Kingdom Hearts: Recollection
by ShadowDragon94
Summary: "Maybe the Darkness has gotten to me too." A phase of healing is at times required when one has suffered, and must recover the wounds placed upon their hearts, minds, and bodies. Sometimes, it can be done alone, and other times, being with those one loves is the greatest medicine of all - even for hearts filled with Light. (Story #6 in The World Tree series)
1. Chapter 1: In Time

Chapter 1: In Time

 **{Disney Castle, The King's Study: May 4th 2013, 8:04am}**

King Mickey sighed in defeat as Master Yen Sid looked out the window at the early morning, and the two remained silent as they tried to reason what to do. Sora had seemed almost as if he was recovering completely when he had returned from the Destiny Islands, but it had started to decline once they'd brought him back. Master Yen Sid sighed and looked to the King. If there was one thing that he knew could remedy the situation, it was something that he recalled from his early years.

"King Mickey? Would you be opposed to having the children's parents come visit?" Master Yen Sid inquired.

"I wouldn't, personally, but….why would you want them here?" the aged wizard looked the King over.

"Sometimes, a mother's love is the medicine that can cure a broken spirit," he stated calmly.

"Ah, you believe having Himitsu come would help Sora recover faster." Master Yen Sid nodded slowly.

"Sora is falling apart. After the events of the Dream Drop, where both his heart and his mind were shattered, Sora has shown remarkable determination. However, his healing will take more than sheer determination to be successful. Therefore, please send Donald and Goofy for the children's parents, and give them the chance to recover," the wizard said in a soft tone.

"Very well; I'll send Donald, and Goofy to get them. We should let Sora, Kairi, and Riku know."

"Yes; however, Sora needs to be with his mother, and he needs time to heal as well…"

"I agree…"

"Then send for them, let the children be with their parents and give them time to heal. Sora, Riku, and Kairi will fare better if they have their families," Master Yen Sid stated.

"I will send for them right away."

Master Yen Sid watched as his former pupil called Donald and Goofy with an order to bring the children's parents to the castle. The court magician and the Captain of the Knights saluted the King before opening a portal and leaving through it to the Destiny Islands. Master Yen Sid looked forward to what he would see once he met Sora's mother. The aged wizard sighed in defeat as he recalled several details that were still hidden far away from others, and what would happen when it all came to light. The man took a deep breath as King Mickey jumped out of his seat and walked to the door, before looking back at Master Yen Sid as he followed him.

 **{Destiny Islands: 12:01pm}**

Himitsu looked out to the sun as she stood on the beach in faint contentment. Her chocolate-brown eyes softened as she looked at the bright blue sky and the deep blue sea. Her hair whipped around her as she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as her mind replayed the last time she had seen Sora. The boy had come back home torn up from his most recent battle, and had suffered greatly during that. Sora had many wounds and scars, both physical and emotional, that he would have to work through; however, Himitsu knew that, even then, when she held him in her arms the night he'd woken up from a night terror, that he had chosen not to tell her everything.

Despite the fact that Sora may have not been her biological son, it didn't make any difference. That chestnut-haired, sky-blue-eyed, bright-smiled boy was her son, and she adored him, and couldn't help but feel her heart ache at the notion that he'd suffered more than even he wanted to let her know. As she stood there, listening to the waves, a faint engine hum was heard in the distance, and Himitsu opened her eyes to see a Gummi Ship moving over to the shore.

 _"What are they doing here?"_

The Gummi Ship landed nearby her, and slowly, the door opened. It was as Donald and Goofy stepped out that Himitsu felt her heart begin to race. The two of them appeared a bit tired and weary; however, she knew that it wasn't anything bad as she realized they were walking swiftly, but calmly. It was as she waited for them to come that she heard a series of breaths behind her. Himitsu turned to see Akira and Tadashi present and slightly out of breath. The two of them had told her earlier that they would meet her at the beach near her house to spend some time together; however, this wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind. Donald and Goofy stopped before Himitsu, Akira, and Tadashi and gave them a gentle smile, before Donald pulled out a piece of parchment.

"Is everything okay?" asked Tadashi.

"Oh, yea, everything is okay, but Sora, Riku, and Kairi aren't recovering as fast as anyone would like." Himitsu looked them over.

"Is Sora still having nightmares?" she questioned.

"Sometimes...but...would you like to see them?" the group looked the two over.

"Excuse me?" asked Akira.

"Yes, King Mickey and Master Yen Sid would like to invite the three of you to stay at the Disney Castle for however long it takes to help them heal." Himitsu, Akira, and Tadashi looked the two over.

"We'd be happy to go," Himitsu stated.

"Then please, pack up, and we will be ready to leave whenever you're ready." the three adults looked to one another in thought, and then Himitsu turned to look at the Court Magician and the Captain of the Knights.

"That sounds fine, but can we bring Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka with us? They'd really enjoy getting to spend more time with Sora, Kairi, and Riku," she asked with a sweet voice.

Donald and Goofy stared at the woman in surprise. They had wondered for quite some time how Sora had managed to gain details that they needed during the events of their first adventure. He had only had to ask in a sweet voice with a gentle look in his eyes to have someone tell him exactly what he needed to know. Despite Sora's shy nature and ever-so-slightly unsure disposition, he could be quite the little trickster. However, Himitsu was now showing them exactly what her son had almost two years ago, and it suddenly made perfect sense to them. If Sora hadn't gotten his looks from his mother, he had gotten some of his wit from her.

"Well, I guess so..." Donald said in thought. He knew, from his experiences with Sora, that arguing about this would do nothing but cause him trouble.

"Okay; Akira, you're closest to them, can you give them a call?" the woman nodded.

"Yes, no problem. See you guys soon," she said as she took off towards her house.

"Tadashi?" the man smiled.

"No problem, I'll see you in a few hours." With that, the man left to return home.

Himitsu turned back to Donald and Goofy before inviting them to come back to her home. The two agreed, and the three of them returned to her house, before the two off-worlders were left to the explore the downstairs area while Himitsu went to her bedroom, that was not far from the living room, and went to start packing. She got out her large suitcase and began to fold up clothing while she hummed a little tune with a small smile upon her face. As Himitsu was folding up her things and placing them into the suitcase, Donald and Goofy looked around the living room at the pictures on the wall. As they looked, they took notice of several photos of children in a cluster. The one nearest to Donald was of Sora, Kairi, and Riku when they were very young. Each one of them had a paopu fruit in their small hands and were smiling at the camera.

The next one in the photos were of the children at certain ages, between six and thirteen. The children had many pictures taken of them at the beach, or at some points when they were in school. The one picture Donald was looking at was of Sora when he was what Donald assumed was thirteen. The boy was wearing just his red jumpsuit and his crown pendant. The rest of his normal attire, the gloves, shoes, jacket, and his belt and chain, were missing. His hair looked damp, as if he'd been in the ocean, and he had a bright smile on his face. Donald and Goofy smiled as they recalled the boy from when they'd first met him, and then the boy they knew now, who was still recovering from what they both would agree was the most traumatic event Sora had gone through thus far.

"You remember when he was like that, too, Donald?" asked Goofy.

"Yea...think he'll be okay?" Goofy nodded.

"Of course he will! Sora is a strong kid!" he stated.

"Okay Goofy..." Goofy looked at a picture at the end of the table, and frowned.

In the photo was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl in a pale yellow shirt and pale jean-shorts. She looked to be about nine – roughly the same age as Sora and Kairi in the picture – she smiled brightly at the camera and had Sora, Kairi, and Riku beside her, with her arms wrapped around the three of them. As they stared at the image, Himitsu walked out of her room, and looked to where they were standing.

"That's Mina Hanamori, she was really close to Sora, Kairi, and Riku when they were little," she stated.

"What happened to her?" Himitsu looked down as she sighed.

"Mina drowned in a riptide when Sora, Kairi, and Riku were nine and ten. She was a really good artist...and Kairi and her were practically sisters..." the two looked down.

"I'm sorry..." Himitsu shook her head.

"Sora and Riku tried to save her, and the only person they were able to save who got caught up in the tide was Kairi...Sora saved her...but they both tried to get to Mina...the waves separated them." Donald looked around as Goofy looked at the little girl in the picture.

"She was real pretty," Goofy said.

"Do you have any children of your own, Goofy?" the Captain of the Knights looked to her.

"Yes, I have a son. He's a few years older than Sora," he stated. Himitsu smiled.

"I see...um? Donald, is something wrong?" the duck eyed the house in questioning.

"Do you always live here?" he asked. Himitsu laughed a bit.

"Yes, I actually come from a relatively well-to-do family...we co-own the hospital on the island..." Donald and Goofy eyed one another.

"Oh, I see..." Donald said.

"Wait..."

"WHAT?!" the two said. Himitsu laughed as the two stared, slack-jawed, as she smiled ever so slightly.

"So, Sora...comes from a rich family?" asked Goofy. Himitsu laughed again.

"Yes, he does. However, he never has acted like it, and neither have I. I have no desire to be so prudish about the people I associate with."

"Wow, I never woulda thought Sora came from this kinda background," Goofy stated, while Donald continued to stare at the woman with an open mouth.

"Donald? Are you okay?" the duck shook his head and then nodded.

"Oh, of course...um...so..." Himitsu laughed.

"I've got a bit more to get still, but please, explore the house, if you wish," she said as she turned back to her bedroom and walked into the room, before resuming her task.

Donald and Goofy took the chance to explore the large house in curiosity, before walking up the staircase and turning to the left. The door was open, and the room surprisingly clean. It had a bed by the window, a desk near the door, a closet across from the door, a wardrobe, and a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf filled to the brim with books. They were leather-bound and some were aged, while others were newer. All the books were classics until the middle shelf, which had newer works that were some they recognized, and others they hadn't. Goofy eyed the room once more, and Donald eyed the few photos on the wall. They were all of Riku and Kairi, and the others on the island. Goofy smiled, and mentioned that the room probably belonged to Sora. Donald nodded and looked around the room, as he moved towards the window and bumped into the desk. A book fell to the floor and laid open on a page with scrawling, but neat writing. Goofy walked to where it was, and journal was picked up by the duck as he started to read over the journal.

 _May 28th 2011,_

 _I've been having these weird thoughts lately, and they always go into my dreams. I don't understand what's happening in the dreams, but...something keeps making me wonder if any of this is real or not. In every dream, I'm in the dark; the only light is coming from the stained-glass window I'm standing on, but the darkness is closing in on me constantly. Someone keeps talking to me, and I try to find out who they are, but they never answer me; they just assure me that I'm the only one who can do what must be done. What are they talking about? Every time I have this dream, I'm standing in the center of the stained-glass window, and a giant key appears in my hands; I know it's a weapon of some kind, and it worries me...but...I feel as if I know what I'm doing, and that I have to fight._

I _run into the darkness and face it head on, I fight it, and begin to defeat it; however, I always feel as if something evil is hiding in it and waiting for me to get through the first series of trials it's put in my way. Then I wake up when I see yellow eyes looking at me. Recently, though, when I have the dream, there are more and more people standing beside me, with Keys of different shapes and colors. I never see their faces, but I keep thinking about the Keys...there are so many of them, and I feel their power, and the people who wield them. I think this is...real...that it's true._

 _These weird thoughts lately, whether or not all of it is real or not...I think it is real, and something is going to happen, to where I am going to have the life I've known changed into something else._

"Donald, do you think Sora..." the duck frowned.

"I think Sora was given an inkling of what the situation he and the others have come to be in. Someone or something was giving him hints from the beginning," he stated.

"But who?" Donald shook his head.

"I don't know...but it's strange..." Goofy looked back around the room.

"Do ya think someone is keepin' secrets?" he questioned. The duck looked to the other.

"I wish I knew...we should see if Sora's mom is ready to go." With that, the duck set the journal down, and the two walked out of the room.

 **{Disney Castle: 8:45pm}**

Riku flinched as he felt a sharp sting come from a wound on his back. The area where Xemnas's energy blades had struck him was going to take a long time to heal, but thankfully hadn't left any lasting damage. However, it would need repeated treatments with a special ointment and a series of cure spells. This was why Riku was now standing in front of Sora's door with a glum look upon his face. He would have to ask Sora to help him out this time, even though he didn't want to. Sighing in defeat, Riku knocked on the boy's door, and Sora slowly opened it to peek out. Sky-blue eyes looked him over, and the door opened as he gave the silver-haired teen a smile. Riku was tense as he was let into the room, and Sora walked away for a moment before picking up a towel and placing it on his head to begin drying his hair. Cyan eyes looked him over as he realized the boy looked as though he had just gotten out of the shower, and he had failed to realize it when the boy let him in.

"Are you okay? You look tired," Riku said.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just a little drowsy. That potion that Donald made me makes me a little sleepy is all."

The silver-haired teen had noticed when the boy had begun taking the anxiety potion that he seemed a bit more chipper than normal; however, he also had days where he wasn't much better than if he hadn't taken it. Sora still seemed to be having nightmares, even though he never said a word on whether or not he did. Riku, and Kairi both could tell if he'd slept the night before or not based upon his personality during the day. If he was tired, irritable, and easily agitated, then Sora hadn't slept as well as he could have; if he was hyper, cheerful, and teasing, he'd slept rather well. However, there was another problem that Riku noticed about the boy. Sora glanced in his direction as he threw his towel into a hamper, and the silver-haired teen looked him over.

"You look a little thin," he stated. Sora shrugged.

"I'm small, okay? I get it!" Riku laughed.

"Nope, I'm not calling you a midget, I'm saying that you look as if you aren't eating enough," he said as he placed his hand on the boy's still-damp hair.

"Since I started taking the potions...I've not been as hungry as I usually can be..." Riku smiled.

"Well, that just means your appetite will get back to normal once you're off it," he said as he ruffled the boy's dark chestnut hair.

"Okay...but I've really gotten used to not eating much when I'm out on the field or fighting." Riku nodded.

"Just don't forget to eat something, you'll ruin that disgustingly perfect health of yours," he said. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Oh no, big brother mode has been activated..." Riku laughed as Sora returned it and looked at the flinch the silver-haired teen gave off as he stopped.

"Anyways..." Sora looked him over.

"Is one of your wounds bothering you? Riku?" sky-blue looked to cyan as Riku watched Sora look him over.

"Yea, one of the injures on my back. I was hoping you could help me out?" Sora smiled as he looked to his friend.

"Okay, just take off your shirt, and I'll have a look. I'm guessing you need the ointment you brought with you applied to it and don't want to ask Kairi because it would be embarrassing?" there was no teasing in his voice, and Riku was thankful for that.

"I guess so, and you also know how to use magic, and it needs a Cure spell placed on it to activate the magic inside the ointment. Otherwise, it doesn't really heal it," Riku stated. Sora smiled.

"No problem, I can take care of it." Riku nodded to him and set to removing his shirt, while Sora sat down on the bed, and Riku looked to him as he pulled his first-aid kit out from the drawer in his bedside table.

 _"And now his doctor mode has kicked in. There are times when I wonder if him coming from a family that runs a medical facility is a good thing or not..."_

"Riku, sit down, okay? I'll check your bandages while I'm at it," Sora stated.

Riku did as asked and sat down with his back facing his friend, while the boy set to applying the ointment to the large, blackish-purple bruise across the center of his back. There was one good thing about Sora growing up in a medical family – he had very gentle hands. Sora knew how to care for someone when it came to medicine and treatments; however, he also knew how to do amputations and stop bleeding, and Riku knew from personal experience that Sora knew how to splint broken limbs, as he had done so with Tidus once, when they were eleven. The boy activated a Cure spell, and the temperature of the ointment changed some to where the magic within it would begin healing the damage done to his muscles.

As he let the other boy tend to his other wounds, Riku listened to the stillness of the room and found himself oddly tense. Riku could tell that Sora was irritated by this, because the boy growled a bit as he smacked the uninjured part of Riku's arm, and the silver-haired teen forced himself to relax. Another thing Sora had picked up on since he'd grown up watching his mother tend to wounds and other injures: he knew how and when to be rough on a patient. Riku smiled a bit as he heard the boy sigh and blow his bangs out of his eyes before setting back to cleaning the few cuts that Riku had on his back from landing against broken pillars and rubble during the battle. It was as Sora got to his shoulders that Riku felt the boy pause. Small hands pressed lightly to his back and Riku tensed, not liking the fact that Sora had stopped moving and working on his injuries.

"Sora?"

"Riku...why do you have a Dream Eater's mark on your shoulder?" Cyan eyes grew wide.

"I...think I need to tell you something," Riku stated. The boy moved a bit, and Riku tugged his shirt back on before turning to look at the boy, who was giving him a confused and concerned look.

"What are you talking about?" the silver-haired teen gulped.

"After Xemnas was defeated, your heart was fractured again...you weren't responding...and...you weren't breathing...I tried everything, but you were just..." Riku felt pain lace through his body at the memory.

"Riku?" concerned blue eyes looked to him, and he felt a faint chill go through him.

"Master Yen Sid told me a way to save you and restore your heart," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Riku took in a steady breath.

"I used a ritual that Master Yen Sid orchestrated, and...paid a price for your life to be spared," he stated. Sky-blue grew worried.

"Riku? What did you do? What kind of ritual did you use? What did you give up?"

He could hear it in Sora's voice – he was scared. Sora was practically his little brother, and because of that, he hated hearing that tone in his voice. However, Riku honestly never thought he'd be the one to cause him that type of fear – not after that first series of harrowing events – but here he was, receiving a pained looked by the same boy he thought of as family, and hearing fear in his voice again because of him. Riku took in a steady breath and looked Sora over as the boy waited his answer.

"I used an equivalent exchange and...I gave up my humanity in order to save you," he answered. Sky-blue widened.

"What? _No!_ What are you talking about? What did you become just..." Riku smiled.

"I'm your Dream Eater now, Sora; and this way, I can protect you better. I promised your mom and Cloud that I would keep you and Kairi safe...so I..." Sora stood, his head bowed.

"Why?"

"Sora? What do you mean? I..." Sora shook his head.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" Riku stared in surprise, as he had never heard the boy yell before.

"Because...you're my best friend, you're practically my brother...you..." Riku looked to him and Sora clenched his hands.

"Why did you give up your humanity for me? _I'm not worth that!_ " Cyan eyes grew wide as he gripped the boy's upper arms and stared at him.

"Don't you dare say that! Do you know how much it would hurt Kairi to hear something like that from you? She needs you! You're everything to her!" he said.

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BECOME A DREAM EATER FOR ME!" Sora took in a rough breath, and Riku looked to the boy.

"Sora..."

"Why did you become a Dream Eater? Why did you give up your humanity for me? _I didn't want that!_ Riku, I don't want you to..." Riku took in a steady breath as he looked at the boy.

"You're my best friend, I would give up anything for your sake. You've saved me countless times...what's wrong with me repaying you?" Sora jerked free from his grasp.

"I never wanted anything in return...I never wanted you or Kairi to give up anything for me...I was fine with being a martyr...but you...you can't...give up being a human, just because you want to repay a debt to me..."

"It's not just that! I want to protect you! You're family to me, Sora; you, and Kairi, and Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, Mina was, too! Come on, don't just shut me down like that! We've been through enough, and..." Riku reached for him, but Sora smacked his hand away.

"Don't _touch_ me..."

"Sora, come on; I just did this because Kairi and I can't live without you being there. It's always been the three of us...please, I just..."

"You shouldn't have given up your humanity for me...that was my burden to bear...my life isn't worth the price of your freedom..." Riku grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt.

" _Your life isn't worth it?_ Sora, you took the bullet for Kairi and me both, countless times! I fought alongside you as an equal in the Dream Drop, so did Kairi, so don't you dare say you aren't worth it! I still have my freedom, and my change of race is nothing compared to losing my best friend!" Riku snapped.

Sora shot him a cold glare before rearing back, and nailed him in the stomach. Riku stumbled back in pain as Sora looked up to him as tears welled in his eyes. The silver-haired teen looked utterly dumbfounded as he realized that Sora wasn't saying this because he felt as if it was his job to bear those burdens – Sora didn't want to worry them, he never had the intention of leaving them behind – but Riku had only just now realized why he had always taken the burden on himself: he never wanted to see the ones he loved in pain. He never wanted them to suffer any costs or troubles. Sora would happily take on the struggles, and trials if it just saved those he loved from suffering.

"Sora...I just wanted you to know that you don't have to face these things alone. Kairi and me are here with you," Riku stated. Sora gritted his teeth and shut his eyes.

"Leave me alone..."

"What? Sora, I...please, try to understand this, I..." the boy shook his head.

"GET THE FUCK OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Riku stepped back as Sora placed a hand to his chest where his heart was, and once again the silver-haired teen was given a realization that, while Sora's mind didn't remember what had transpired, his heart and body did. Everything within Sora knew what he'd done to the others and Riku, and because of that, he felt nothing short of guilt for his actions. Riku took a deep breath and looked his friend over once more, before deciding it would be best if he let Sora calm down before he tried to rationally speak to him about choice.

 _"I hope you can understand...Sora..."_

 **{….}**

 _I pirouette in the dark, I see the stars through a mirror..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Here's the beginning of Recollection. I know Sora seems a little tense about Riku's sacrifice; however, if you take into account how Sora is viewing it, compared to what it was really meant to be, it will make sense. I hope you will enjoy the story.

Preview:

"I'm sorry..."

"THIS IS AMAZING!"

"Welcome to Disney Castle."

Chapter 2: All Wounds


	2. Chapter 2: All Wounds

Chapter 2: All Wounds

 **{Destiny Islands: May 4th 2013, 5:50pm}**

Donald and Goofy stood in front of the Gummi Ship, awaiting their travelers. The duo had ended up having to wait for Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka to get off work before they could leave, and that meant waiting on them to come home and then pack up. Due to the time they would be leaving – roughly 6:15pm, Destiny Island time, by Donald's watch – the Gummi Ship and its passengers wouldn't be returning to the Disney Castle until roughly two in the morning, which meant that everyone would be asleep, or would be getting to sleep. Donald could already imagine Sora being hyper because of the surprise of seeing his mom and other friends. But he also had to remember the boy had been going through bouts of depression lately.

Sometimes, Sora would be easily grumpy when he woke up, or could get agitated with just a simple set of words that came out the wrong way. Normally, he would be kind, sweet, gentle, and happy; however, since the Dream Drop, Sora had gone through days where he was exhausted or irritable, he would have nightmares and wouldn't sleep, or he would begin to become anxious. The potions were finally wearing down his side-effects of his post-traumatic stress, but it would be at least another month or so before he would be over it enough to function like he used to. Donald tapped his foot as they waited, and finally, Goofy signaled that he saw the six passengers approaching.

"Good, we need to hurry," Donald stated.

"Donald, be nice. Sora, Kairi, and Riku haven't got to spend as much time with their family as they should."

"I know; I just hope it helps Sora..." the Court Magician muttered.

"It will. Master Yen Sid and the King wouldn't do this if they didn't think it wouldn't help Sora get better faster," Goofy assured.

"Goofy, _I want the old Sora back_...the one who used to smile and laugh all the time...I miss the way he used to be." The Captain of the Knights nodded a bit.

"Sora will be okay Donald. We just gotta believe that the King and Master Yen Sid know what they're doing," Goofy stated.

"Okay..."

"Donald! Goofy!" called Himitsu as the six of them arrived.

"Is everyone here?" the group nodded, while Selphie did a little dance in place with a bright smile on her features.

"What are you so happy about?" asked Tidus.

"We finally get to see where Sora, Kairi, and Riku have been living!" the others nodded as Wakka came to Tidus and put his arm around the other's shoulders.

"Cheer up, man; I bet it'll be a good break." Donald and Goofy smiled.

"They actually don't know you're coming," stated Donald.

"Really?" they nodded.

"Master Yen Sid and King Mickey wanted to surprise them," said Goofy.

"Well, this oughta go over well with Sora – he's not overly fond of surprises." Donald laughed.

"I find that hard to believe, with how many surprises he's had in his last year and a half," the duck responded.

"Really? Well, I guess we better go and surprise him again."

The two Court members got everyone loaded onto the Gummi Ship – Selphie gushing all the way about how amazing it was, with the others equally excited – as they put away their luggage and buckled up, before looking out the windows as Donald and Goofy strapped themselves in and began to lift off from the islands. As the duo started to leave, the group began to chatter about the world they were going to, and as the words reached them, the two realized that none of them had world-hopped before. Donald smiled and snickered, before pushing the pedal that made the Ship go as, a tunnel opened and they were given a sudden burst of speed that sent them flying off in the direction of the castle.

The chatter changed to the scene of the stars and small orb-shaped dots that littered the area around them, as Goofy explained which worlds were which. They passed a world with a green heart atop it, which Donald stated was Wonderland, and then Goofy took back over to explaining the other worlds as they continued to pass them, and found the rings that they needed to pass through in order to get to the castle once more. Himitsu looked out the window at the beautiful scene of all the worlds amongst the endless stars, and took in a deep sigh. She wondered if this was what Sora had seen during all his adventures, and if he thought it was as beautiful and amazing as she did.

While they had waited for Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka, the three adults had talked about what they thought their children's lives were like in the world they'd gone to live in, and if they were doing well since they'd last seen them. Tadashi stated that he believed Kairi was happy and enjoyed being there, but more than likely missed the islands sometimes – while Akira stated that Riku would be happy, so long as there was a forest or somewhere to walk and have a few moments of peace, and then, they asked her what she believed Sora's life was like. Without question, Himitsu knew if there was a beach nearby – or any form of water for him to walk in – Sora would be at least moderately comfortable.

The boy's name may have meant sky, but he took to water like a fish. He was a naturally good swimmer and could hold his breath for quite a long time, while he also stated that he merely enjoyed the way cool water felt against his skin. Sora had interesting quirks – like the fact if there was a stream nearby, he would take his shoes and socks off and walk in the stream barefoot instead of on a trail, or he would read upside down, or fall asleep hanging sideways off his bead if he wasn't curled into a ball. Himitsu smiled as the thought of finding Sora asleep atop a book the night before everything had started crossed her mind.

That was the last peaceful night that anyone had, and while Himitsu had used an emergency hideout someone had given her years ago that had quite the gift in magic to keep everyone that was with her now safe, she had feared the worst for Sora, Kairi, and Riku. The parents hadn't quite learned about all the events that the children had faced during the first wave of Heartless, but Himitsu felt that it would be a major topic while they spent time with their children. Taking in another deep breath, Himitsu hoped that everyone would be okay, and that Sora, Kairi, and Riku would heal quicker now, that they would be surrounded by their family.

 _"Not that the King, the Queen, Donald, Goofy and the others at the castle aren't family to them as well.."_ she thought.

"We're nearly there! About another twenty minutes," said Donald.

"That fast?" the duck nodded.

"We'll be arriving at the Disney Castle roughly three in the morning, so we pushed the speed meter so we could arrive before dawn and let you get settled and rested before seeing _too much_ insanity," Donald said.

"Insanity?" the group looked slightly confused, and Goofy gave his typical chuckle.

"We have a lot of magical things in our Castle," the Captain of the Knights stated.

"Really? I can't wait to see!" Donald hummed.

"You may even get to see Sora, Kairi, and Riku training. They're going to start their practicals in a couple days," Donald stated. The group looked interested in that.

"Practicals?" asked Akira.

"Practicals are something Sora kinda coined for practice that involves several types of training. Not just using his Keyblade, but also using his magic and practicing his summons. Now, Riku and Kairi are beginning to practice, too, but since Sora and Riku are the only two who know magic, they'll be teaching Kairi too."

Donald and Goofy had been warned against telling the group that Sora and Riku were now Keyblade Masters, and were following that guideline to a fault. They knew it was both the teenager's rights to choose when to tell their families and home-world friends; however, the two did wonder why they'd all elected to not discuss anything from the events of the Dream Drop. Was it merely because they were too tired from it to tell them? Or was it because the trauma was too great? Donald and Goofy had seen what one of Sora's nightmares had done to him, and that alone had proven to them that he, Kairi, and Riku were far from getting away from the battle injury-free. Their physical wounds would heal rather quickly, but their emotional and mental ones were a different story.

 **{Disney Castle: 2:46am}**

Riku had awoken to the strangest of knocks on his door in the middle of the night. Part of him hoped it wasn't another broom or mop – he was beginning to see why Sora hated the things so much – and the other half of him hoped it was, so he could get some more firewood. It might have been a balmy ninety-degrees on the Destiny Islands during certain days at springtime, but at the Disney Castle, springtime was much cooler, and the nights could get down into the forties. Groaning, Riku got out of bed and walked over to the door, before slowly but surely, he got the strangest sensation that it wasn't a pesky cleaning instrument at his door. Taking hold of the handle, Riku turned it and pried the door open, where he saw Sora standing there, with his head down and his eyes weary. Cyan eyes grew wide as the boy glanced up at him, and sky-blue looked to him in their misty state before looking back down.

"Sora?"

"Can I talk to you?" Riku heard the boy's voice nearly break, and panic overtook him.

"Of course you can. Come in," he said as he let the boy walk by him and into his room. Sora sat down at the fireplace, tired, as he stared onward at the floor, his bangs falling into his eyes, as Riku looked him over in concern. The silver-haired teenager sat down and looked to him, before waiting for him to speak.

"Riku..." cyan looked him over.

"Yea?"

"I...um..." Sora broke off his speech and swallowed thickly. This once more spurred a bit of concern in him, and whether it was his natural concern for the other boy that he saw as a brother or his Dream Eater side kicking in, Riku wasn't sure; but if Sora wasn't well, then he didn't quite care what side it was that gave him the ability to tap into that notion.

"Are you okay? You look like you're ill," Riku said.

"I'm fine...just tired..." sky-blue looked to him slightly.

"Then what's wrong? Sora, you should get some sleep; you look really pale," he said in concern.

"I'm sorry..." Riku felt a shock go through him.

"What?"

Sora looked to him and wiped his eyes a bit, before looking into his own. Riku read the entire message that Sora couldn't get out vocally. He was apologizing for what he had said earlier that evening. Riku had seen Sora feel guilty, but this type of guilt seemed to be eating him alive. Sky-blue watched him in anxiety, and Riku read yet another message from his eyes – he was scared, he was in pain, he was confused, and he was anxious. Everything had changed for everyone after the Dream Drop – Sora was recovering from more trauma than the rest of them, and his nightmares could vary between mild to states of near hysteria.

However, right then, Sora just wanted to be forgiven by his childhood friend; that was all. He didn't want to be looked at as another Keyblade Master, or a Keyblade Wielder; he didn't want anyone to view him as the person chosen to kill Xehanort, and he didn't have any desire to be called anything but who he was: a sixteen-year-old boy from an Island world who had only just gotten to experience things in life. He didn't want to be Master Sora Seiren, he just wanted to be Sora Seiren – a normal person, a human being.

"Sora, I _never_ wanted you to blame yourself for what happened, if that's what you're doing..." Riku paused when the boy took in a deep breath.

"I'm angry at myself because I needed to be stronger than I was. Riku, I wanted to say something to you...and I hope you can accept it..." Sora stated with a calm tone.

"What?" the chestnut-haired boy looked to him.

"I'm sorry, and _thank you_ , for giving something up for my sake," he said. Riku smiled as he reached out and mussed the other boy's hair.

"No need to thank me, Sora, you're like my brother – I would do anything for you, and that's because you're like family, and we protect our own." Sora smiled softly at the statement.

"Thanks, Riku...it means a lot to me...I just...lost my temper..." the silver-haired teen laughed.

"Hard to imagine that you have a temper. When we were younger, you were probably one of the most _docile_ people I'd ever known, and only when something really pissed you off did you snap about it. Now, you're really mouthy, and have a bad temper if you get pissed. Honestly, I'm impressed; you've gotten braver," Riku said.

"I don't mean to blow up like that when I do...but..." the other laughed again.

"It's fine, and you're more than inclined to be mad sometimes – _hell_ , be furious, if you have to be – but don't lose who you are..." Sora smiled.

"Yea...hey, Riku?" cyan eyes looked to sky-blue.

"What is it?" Sora stood up, and Riku followed.

"Thank you, again, you know...for saving me." Riku elbowed him slightly.

"Hey, I couldn't let you rake in the favor points by yourself," he said.

"Favors? Who said we were keeping score?" Riku laughed and mussed the boy's already messy hair again.

"Fair enough, let's just call this even for now, okay?" Sora laughed a bit, and the other shook his head.

"Fine...we're even."

It was as Riku dropped his hand that the sound of a Gummi Ship caught their attention. Confused by the sound, the two boys stared out the door and were met with Kairi shrugging on a jacket and pulling on a pair of sneakers. The two boys ran back to their rooms and pulled on their jackets and shoes, before starting out of the hallway and down the staircase in a fast motion. As the three Keyblade wielders raced for the door, they met King Mickey down the staircase, and were told to hurry up. Without further questioning, the three of them followed the King down the long, vast hallway, lined in stained glass windows, towards the large mahogany doors, where the noise of the Gummi Ship was coming from.

Kairi eyed Sora, who, though he looked tired slightly, was doing quite a good job of veiling it in the pretense of a potential fight taking place, while Riku looked as if he had just been woken up as well. The red-haired girl grasped Sora's hand, and the boy gave her a reassuring smile to tell her he was okay, before the two broke apart and stood directly behind the King, prepared for something to happen, when they heard a familiar set of voices on the other side of the door. The King opened the door and the three Keyblade Wielders followed him out and down the stairs, before they were settled in the side-courtyard where they had landed when they'd first arrived. As the three of them looked to where Donald and Goofy had landed, they saw six familiar forms.

Their parents, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka were walking towards them, towing suitcases and looking around in awe of the Disney Castle in all its glory at night. The trio gaped as the six people got closer, and then their attention turned to the smirking King, who looked at them with a clear I got you expression. Sora laughed, truly laughed, at the fact that the King had completely outwitted the three of them and managed the surprise he had. Kairi felt her eyes grow wide, and Riku felt warmth spread through him as he realized that the King had done this in hopes of helping them recover quicker. Finally, the six forms made it to them, with Donald and Goofy not far behind, and the trio looked at their awed expressions. It was quiet, and then -

"THIS IS AMAZING!" yelled Selphie.

"Shush! Selphie, it's late!" the brunette girl put a hand to her mouth.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so loud," she said. The trio laughed a bit.

"Welcome, everyone, to Disney Castle," said King Mickey.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." the six people bowed a bit – some a bit more properly than others.

"No need to thank me, but there are three people who want to see you," the King said.

The adults, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka looked to Sora, Kairi, and Riku with glee in their expressions as they went to them, and their parents enveloped them in warm hugs. Kairi returned her father's hug tightly, having missed his tight hugs. Riku was given a swooping hug by his mother, who ruffled his slightly long silver hair and gave him a bright smile. Then there was Himitsu, who gently pulled Sora into her embrace and held him close, with her hands carding through his hair. The woman nestled her face into his hair, and he returned her hug, being careful of the wounds he was still not completely recovered from, as he tucked his head under her chin. The parents held their children momentarily longer, and then let them go to take in the grandeur of the castle.

"This is some ostentatious place," stated Akira.

"Wait until you see the inside."

"On that note!" Sora put his fingers in his mouth and whistled, startling some of them because of the high-pitched sound, as the rattling noise of something coming caught their attention. King Mickey laughed a bit as roughly six brooms appeared out of nowhere and brushed past Sora to stand before the guests – Sora may have called them, but seeing as he was now a good three feet away, he knew he didn't want to be around them.

"Are those... _brooms?_ " asked Wakka.

"Yep, give them your luggage, and they'll take them to your rooms – they're on the same floor as Sora, Kairi, and Riku's; however, they're on another hallway." The group did as the King instructed them, and the brooms began to leave with their luggage, heading towards the castle. As the brooms passed, a few of the swept towards Sora, who jumped back with a few well-placed steps to avoid them.

"What's the matter, Sora? _Scared_ of a few brooms?" asked Tidus. Both Sora and Riku looked to one another.

"Those brooms threw both of us out a window about a month after we'd been here." The group flinched at the statement.

"What did you do? Burn one of their cousins?" questioned Selphie. Sora groaned at the question.

"I stepped on a freaking floor they had just cleaned, _once_...now, they're out to get me every time they see me within range."

"Just once?" inquired Himitsu.

"Yep, and ever since then, I've been running from cleaning supplies and singing wardrobes..."

"Singing _wardrobes?_ " Kairi laughed.

"Yes! And there's so much more we'll show you guys tomorrow! How long are you going to be here?" she asked.

"Well, the letter from King Mickey stated that it would be until the end of June, or the middle of July." the trio looked to one another: That gave them plenty of time to ease the six of them into a few details.

"So, that give us plenty of time to show you a whole bunch of amazing things," said Sora with a smile. He seemed happy, if not tired, and a little worn-down.

"Okay, well, show us in the morning, we're beat, and you kids need to get to bed." the trio nodded, and agreed to help take their guests up to the floor they were on.

For now, Sora, Kairi, and Riku looked forward to seeing what sort of things they could show the others, but they also would use this time to help their parents and their friends understand that, while their lives were never going to be peaceful, they would be okay and could overcome the challenges that had been, and would be, thrown at them.

 **{…...}**

 _Tired mechanical heart, beats 'til the song disappears..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Yes, Sora, Kairi, and Riku are going to have to reveal a few details to their family and friends that they've kept from them, and also, you did read that right: Himitsu and the others know very little about all of the details that took place during Sora's first adventure. In the story _**Kingdom Hearts: Cypher**_ , Sora, Kairi, and Riku gave them a rundown of what happened, but they don't know about the worlds, about the spells they learned, and they don't know about other details as well. And yes, many other details will come to light soon. Don't worry, this will be a very fun story to read.

Preview:

"Where are we starting today?"

"This is Disney Town."

"What's it like? Living in a castle?"

"Are you guys going to be doing Keyblade practice?"

Chapter 3: Breathless


	3. Chapter 3: Breathless

Chapter 3: Breathless

 **{Disney Castle: May 5th 2013, 8:27am}**

The sound of birds chirping and the breeze rustling through trees were the first noises that Himitsu Seiren awoke to. The black-haired twenty-eight-year-old woman stared up at the canopy of the bed she was in, and blinked momentarily as she adjusted to her environment. The comforter on the bed most certainly wasn't hers; however, it was soft, and cool to the touch at the top as she slowly sat up with a stretch. Taking in a deep breath, Himitsu looked around the room and took in all of the details around her – the walls were white, the furniture a rich stained oak, and the floors also a warm stained type of what she assumed was mahogany. Himitsu smiled as she started to get out of bed and looked to see where her suitcase was, before she located the wardrobe and dresser. Nodding her head, the woman began to unpack her things and hang up the items or place them into drawers. As she did, Himitsu took into account the temperature outside, and laid out a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a simple dark heather-gray t-shirt before finishing with her unpacking.

Once she was done, Himitsu took a quick shower and got dressed, before brushing her hair out and putting on her necklace. On the chain was a locket in the shape of a book with a series of scroll-work designs that favored runes. Himitsu sighed as she finished getting ready, and decided to check in on the others. Stepping out of her door, Himitsu was instantly met with a surprising sight of the brooms and mops at work, with the others dressed and ready to head out for the day. Raising an eyebrow at the sight, and then looking at the others she received a shrug before a mop came forward, and handed her a note.

"Oh, thank you," she said. The others started to head towards her, and the mop stepped aside.

"What's it say?" Himitsu looked to the others.

"It's from the King, he wants all of us to join him, the Queen, and the others for breakfast," she said.

"Let's go, then! It's not often you get to have a meal with a King and Queen." Himitsu nodded.

"Okay, but we should probably make sure Sora, Kairi, and Riku are up as well," she said.

"Yea, they're probably still asleep."

The group of six exited their hallway and went to the one right across from it. The group made sure to follow the King's instructions that, though the name plates hadn't been put up, the doors had a color scheme to them that would let them know who was in what room. The door with blue on it was Sora's room, the one with pale yellowish-gray was Riku's, and the pink one was Kairi's. The three parents went to the doors and knocked, only to be met with no response. Sighing, Tadashi jostled the handle a bit and got the door partly open. The man looked into the room for a sign of his daughter, but found nothing, at roughly the same time that Himitsu and Akira found that Sora and Riku were nowhere to be seen.

Now curious, the group left to head downstairs, hoping to run into the other three, and began to follow a broom that waved for them to follow it. Once more raising an eyebrow, they did as the broom wished, and followed it down the hallway and into a chamber that lead to a brightly lit area outside. Following the direction the broom pointed them in, the group of six made it to the end of the chamber-like hallway and found themselves in a courtyard, where a table had been set up for breakfast. The group looked around in amazement of not only the setting upon the table, but the courtyard and how beautiful it was.

There were rose bushes, fountains, stone pathways, clean-cut hedges, lush green grass, beautiful weeping cherry trees and willows, and amidst it all were the three teenagers they were looking for. The group of six watched the scene of Sora talking to Kairi, before he placed his hand outwards and cast a flush of ice across the way. Kairi looked a little nervous, as did Donald and Goofy, who were standing not far from the three teens. Sora placed his hands on her shoulders, assuring her as he continued to instruct her upon something, before the girl tensely whispered a word, and a small gleam of magic appeared around her hand.

"You almost have it! Just relax, the spell is one of the easiest ones out there, promise," Sora assured her.

"Okay..." Donald cleared his throat.

"Sora learned the fire spell first, but you'll probably do better with water-based magic first," he said. Riku looked to Sora.

"You learned a fire spell first?" the chestnut-haired teen laughed a bit sheepishly.

"Donald thought I needed something strong to defend myself with...after that I learned blizzard, cure, thunder, and shield. Honestly, I think those are the most important ones," he said.

"I'll try one more time..." Kairi took in a deep breath and felt the magic pool in the palm of her hand, before she focused her attention to the source.

"Good, now say the release word, and give it a try," Sora said as he watched Kairi slowly breathe in before releasing the spell.

"Freeze!" the nearest plant life was hit with a thick coating of frost, and Kairi smiled as she took in the sight.

"You got it! Just keep practicing, and you'll be fine," the sky-blue-eyed boy stated with a smile.

"Thanks, Sora!" the group watched in silence before they heard someone move beside them. Looking to their lefts and down, they saw the King dressed in relatively normal clothing, and another black mouse in a pink dress and a crown upon her head.

"Good morning, Your Majesty, Your Highness," stated Donald and Goofy.

"Good morning, Donald, Goofy. And good morning to you Sora, Kairi, Riku...and to the rest of you, Himitsu, Akira, Tadashi, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka." the two royals looked to Himitsu and the others and smiled.

"Thank you for inviting us," Himitsu said as she got down to the eye level of the King and Queen.

"No need to thank us. Now, I believe we all need to eat, so that you can get into your day of events." the group sat at the table, and the three Keyblade wielders joined them, while Sora kept an eye on the broom that was sweeping the pathways.

"Those brooms still bothering you?" asked Tidus.

"They threw me from a sixth-story window...I think I have every right to be a little bothered by them..." Himitsu looked him over.

Sora was dressed in some kind of attire that to her seemed strange. It was a mainly black in color, the pants consisted of black with blue on the inner leg up at his hips, they were lined in white, there were yellow straps that wrapped about his thighs and up to his belt that held on a pair of red pouches with black X-shapes on them. The boy's shirt was dark blue with red pockets lined in white, and his shoes were mostly black with yellow tops and dark blue straps with zippers on them that went from the toe to the top of the shoe, which ended just where his leg injury had been. Sora was lacking his gloves and his jacket for some reason, and that did make her curious. However, Himitsu did take into account that Sora was still wearing his crown pendant.

She smiled, and then looked to Kairi, who was wearing a pair of jean shorts, sneakers with ankle socks, and a simple loose-fitting pink cotton t-shirt, with her bracelets and her pearl necklace. Riku was rather simply dressed in dark wash jeans, white sneakers with black laces, a black zipped up shirt with a high collar, a white vest with yellow at the collar that was left open, and his off-white arm warmer was in place on his left arm. The three of them seemed relatively comfortable in their environment, but Himitsu got the feeling that there were things they weren't being told or shown for a good reason, and she knew without question that Akira and Tadashi felt the same way.

"So, what are we doing today?" asked Selphie.

"Well, we have to practice some of our magic today...we're kinda getting behind on the advanced spells...but afterwards, we should be able to go to Disney Town." The group looked interested in both statements, and Akira looked to her son.

"What spells are you practicing?" she questioned, and then frowned as she realized she'd never expected to ask that question in her life.

"You look completely dumbfounded." All eyes turned to the King.

"Well...I honestly never expected to ask Riku that question," Akira replied.

"It makes sense; the three of them have lives that none of you would have ever anticipated," King Mickey stated.

"That's for certain. Who would have thought that someone as overly protective as Riku and as gentle as Kairi would become Keyblade Wielders, not to mention Sora." all eyes at the table glanced to Sora, who rolled his eyes as he took a bite of the strawberries that were on his plate – they weren't his exact favorite, but he could live with them – however, the topic was becoming something he'd rather stay out of.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Queen Minnie.

"Oh, I apologize, we haven't introduced ourselves!" the Queen shook her head.

"No, it's no problem; I know who all of you are, and I am perfectly fine with that. I am Minnie Mouse, Mickey's wife," she said softly.

"It's nice to formally meet you, Queen Minnie." she smiled.

"As it is you; all of your children and your friends are wonderful. Sora has helped so many people, and he's done so much for everyone in all of the worlds," Queen Minnie praised the blue-eyed boy, who was keeping his head down to hide the fact that he was a little embarrassed by the compliments.

"Really? Sora did all that?" again, the others looked a bit confused by Tidus and Wakka's surprise.

"Why do you seem so surprised?" asked Goofy.

"Well...Sora...growing up, he was really shy and timid...yea, he got a bit bolder as he got a little older, but...Sora wasn't the kind to get in the middle of a fight, if he could help it," Wakka said. Sora sighed as he kept quiet – he had no desire to get himself any more involved in the topic than he already was.

"Oh yea! I remember that! Sora used to be bullied a lot in school because he's so small." Sora tilted his head at Tidus's statement. Did he really just call him little?

"Sora was bullied? That seems strange, considering how kind he is," said King Mickey.

"Well, he was kind, and smaller than most boys his age, so he'd get picked on because of that a lot when we were growing up, and only when Himitsu came into the school building, when he started school in the spring of two-thousand-and-eleven, looking like she was going to commit murder that the school put a stop to it." All eyes went to Himitsu, who merely took a bite of her meal and dabbed her mouth with a napkin.

"I may be a nurse, and I may have sworn to help save lives, but _no one_ messes with my child. After all of that, I wasn't about to let those brats get off Scott-free with hurting him," she said simply. Riku smirked as he looked to the woman.

"Yea, I remember Kairi said you looked like you were ready to spit fire." the red-haired girl nodded.

"She did, but after that, it got easier for Sora and us. We never minded, but one of us had to always watch his back, because people would do all they could to beat him up," Kairi said sadly. Under the table, she grasped Sora's hand that was resting in his lap, in a manner that went unnoticed by the others at the table.

"Gwarsh, Sora, I didn't know you went through all that," said Goofy. The boy shrugged.

"It was over, so...I didn't see a point in lingering on it." Selphie frowned at the statement.

"Now that I think about it, didn't your mom come to the school when you were out for three weeks?" she asked.

"Yea, and we weren't allowed to come to see you, either." Himitsu winced at the notion.

Sora had done something during that time frame that she had concealed for his benefit, and because of that, the two of them had never made a mention of it towards anybody since that day. Himitsu knew that Sora didn't want people to know, but at this point in his life, nearly two years later, she was beginning to think he would have to face it eventually.

"I was sick! I had the flu, for crying out loud! Can you blame my mom for not wanting you guys to get it?" Sora defended. Himitsu could only internally smile – at least he was able to cover it well.

"Sora, you hardly ever get sick, and the one time you had the flu was years ago." the five teenagers and the others at the table gave him a long look, and he shrugged.

"I'm not that healthy...don't exaggerate, Selphie," he said.

"Sora, the only time you weren't in near perfect health was Castle Oblivion," said Donald.

"Don't bring that up, okay?" Sora looked down at the statement, and the others looked at the duck in confusion.

"What are you talking about? What's Castle Oblivion?" asked Akira. Sora took in a deep breath.

"Sora, Donald, and I went there just after we made sure Kairi and Riku were back on the Islands. We ended up being in there for nearly a year..." the others looked interested by Goofy's statement.

"Wait, I don't get it – what's so bad about this Castle Oblivion place?" questioned Tadashi.

"In Castle Oblivion, to find is to lose and to lose is to find..." Sora repeated the words Marluxia had stated to him at the beginning of that certain adventure, but he desperately hoped the conversation would drop eventually.

"What does that mean?" asked Selphie.

"It's a riddle. It means, in order to remember something dear to you that's buried deep inside your heart, you have to forget the memories that remain at the surface..." Kairi clenched his hand, and he returned it.

"What do you..." Donald frowned.

"Sora lost all of his memories. He didn't even know who we were, or remember his own name by the time we'd gotten to the top floor. We had fought our way through, but the further we went, the more Sora forgot...by the time we'd reached the top floor, he wasn't doing well...he had no memory of himself, or those he cared for..." the Court Magician stated.

"Sora..."

The notion that Sora had forgotten everything – even his own name – was something none of them expected to hear. Kairi and Riku knew about this, as did Donald and Goofy, King Mickey and Queen Minnie, but did the others ever expect to hear something like that? No, and while they had been given a brief rundown of the events of Sora's first adventure, they had never been told about Castle Oblivion, and judging by the sullen, distant look on Sora's face, the boy had no desire to speak about it. However, Himitsu knew that if someone had been given that sort of trauma before, then they needed to talk about the ordeal to help them overcome it.

"I'm fine now...someone helped me get my memories back. That was where I was for that year..." Selphie looked to him.

"So, everything you told us was a lie? What for?" Riku stepped in at that.

"Because if you had known at the time...you could have gotten hurt," he said.

"But we're fine!" Sora looked to Tidus.

"For now...but Organization Thirteen will find you, and we can't be sure that we'll be there every time to protect you," he stated.

"Then teach us some magic! We'll be able to at least make a diversion!" Sora, Kairi, and Riku glanced down.

"That's not our choice to make," Riku stated as he glanced to Sora and Kairi.

"Look, why don't we change the subject? We're here to be with everyone." Sora looked to his mom and found himself thankful that she was being the peace keeper.

"Right, so, let's finish up, and go to Disney Town after we do our practice," Kairi said with a cheerful smile.

 **{Disney Castle Library: 10:28am}**

King Mickey walked into the library with a thought in mind as he went to the aisle of books that Master Yen Sid was browsing. The mouse King stopped at the entrance of the aisle that the wizard stood near, and waited momentarily for his thoughts to come together. What he was about to do could make things much easier or twice as difficult. Master Yen Sid looked to his former student and sighed. The wizard knew that, once the others had arrived, things were going to become problematic, but he knew some details needed to come to light for the parents and the children, in order for them to heal.

"Master Yen Sid..."

"No need; I heard the conversation, Mickey. The others are desiring to learn magic," the wizard stated.

"Yes, and I know that, though they are Masters now, Sora and Riku need permission from you as acting Grand Master to teach non-Keyblade Wielders magic." Master Yen Sid hummed in thought.

"Sora and Riku are quite adept at magic, and seeing as Sora had gone to teach Kairi magic...it would do them both well to gain some experience in training others before they take on actual students," Master Yen Sid said calmly.

"Do you honestly believe it's wise to teach them magic?" the wizard looked to the King.

"They need know only two spells," he stated.

"Two? Which ones?" the aged wizard smiled slowly.

"A shield spell and a healing spell will do. Now, Mickey? Would you do me the favor of delivering this message to Sora and Riku? I will write down what must be followed accordingly – otherwise, we may have something troublesome happen," Master Yen Sid mentioned as he moved to a table and chair with an inkwell and a piece of parchment rested upon it. The aged wizard began to write out what was required of the two teenage Masters before he blew across the parchment to dry the ink, and then folded it up and handed it to King Mickey, who placed it neatly within his pocket and looked to the wizard once more.

"Are you sure this is best?" asked King Mickey.

"I shall be also giving them a set of two charms each for them to wear. One shall be a direct link to my tower, and the other to your castle." the wizard then stood and looked to the mouse King.

"So, should I inform them of these charms?" he inquired. Master Yen Sid shook his head.

"No, I shall return to my tower – Master Oswald is training some students of his own at this time – and gather the charms and prepare them myself, before returning here to have Sora, Kairi, and Riku give them to their family and friends." King Mickey nodded.

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid," the wizard's former student bowed faintly, and then left the library without another word, and as he left, the aged sorcerer smiled.

"I believe I will stop by to see the Keyblade wielders once I return – they'll have begun training again." With that, Master Yen Sid vanished in twinkle of stardust.

 **{…..}**

 _Somebody shine a light - I'm frozen by the fear in me..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Sora is keeping many secrets it seems, and Himitsu is in on quite a few of them, but some, even Riku and Kairi aren't aware of! Not to mention, there are secrets that the three Keyblade Wielders have kept from their parents, and their friends - plus King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy! Oh my, this is going to be a mess when some of this comes out.

Next chapter is a bit on the others training, Master Yen Sid's letter, and a little bit of a look at Sora and the others over coming some of their own trauma.

Preview:

"I have a message from Master Yen Sid for you two."

"Well, this just got interesting..."

"Sora, can I talk with you for a moment?"

"Who's up for ice cream?"

Chapter 4: Depression


	4. Chapter 4: Depression

Chapter 4: Depression

 **{Disney Castle: May 5th 2013, 11:20am}**

The group of six followed Sora, Kairi, and Riku to the training area of the castle, which was down a few stairs and further towards the east wing. It was a large area that transitioned from marble floors and staircases to polished wood and a long, towering hallway with large, bright windows that flew down to the floor and opened up into a training area for outside days. Normally it would be such a day; however, Sora and Riku had to grab a few things, and Sora needed more level ground to get his bearings on his recently healed leg. Kairi waited with the rest as the boys grabbed a few items from a series of cubbyhole-looking areas near the entrance of the training room, before Sora tilted his head towards the training hall, where he, Riku, and Kairi lead the six in and had them settle by the wall. Sora laid down a few objects, and Riku did as well, while Kairi looked at the small bowling-pin-looking objects in confusion.

"What are these for?" asked Wakka.

"Well, sometimes...we can't use others for practice...so..." Sora stood as he looked at the objects that were settled before him. Riku smirked.

"Are you seriously going to try your hand at that?" he questioned. Sky-blue narrowed at him.

"I need to try, at least..." the others watched as Sora stood before the objects and took in a steady breath, before he held his hands in front of him, palms down and fingers extended faintly, before he separated his hands and stretched his fingers to full length. The objects scattered about the room as if pulled by an invisible force as the boy seemed to strain to focus more on them. Finally, the objects paused, and Sora heaved in a sigh of relief.

"What just happened?" asked Selphie.

"It still feels like I hit a wall about mid-way..." Sora shook himself out a bit, and Riku eyed him.

"You're a kinesthetic learner – just like when you were learning how to dual wield – you're thinking too much. If you just let it come to you naturally, you'll get a good grasp on it, eventually," Riku stated. Kairi looked around them.

"You pushed twenty-eight of them away this time, so that's a good start." The boy nodded a bit glumly, as he tried to reason why it was so hard for him to extend this power out of his own physical range.

"Sora? What was that?" asked Akira. Himitsu eyed her son, and the boy scratched his cheek in a sheepish manner.

"See...I got a gift from the King, just before my most recent little encounter with the black-cloaked _jack-asses_ that tore us all up, and..."

"Language, Sora," Himitsu stated. Sky-blue looked her over.

"Right...anyways...I've gotten to where I can _telekinetically_ move things, and use my Keyblades with it, if I try...but, sometimes it resists..." Riku looked him over.

"Like the dual wielding? Sora, I said it then, and I'll say it now – again – you just need to apply it when you don't have time to think about it too much," he mentioned while looking to the others.

"I'm not going to try it now. We have target practice." Kairi nodded.

"Right! I'm joining you guys today," she said. Sora eyed her in concern.

"Are you sure? How are your ribs?" the red-haired girl smiled.

"I'm fine. Besides, I need to practice, otherwise I'll be behind, and I need to learn more spells," Kairi stated as she looked to him with a smile. Sora sighed.

"Okay, fine. But you need to practice your blizzard spell, and then I'll show you reflect and cure." the girl bounded to him and wrapped her arms around him to give the chestnut-haired boy a warm embrace, before stepping away with a bright smile as she summoned her Keyblade.

 _"Kairi's awfully giddy...did something happen?"_ Selphie wondered as she looked to Sora, who was blushing a bit, and then to Kairi, who smiled as she waited at the center of the room for the two boys.

"Alright, guys, don't move around, otherwise we might hit you by accident," said Sora as he held his right hand forward, and Oblivion appeared in his grasp. Riku eyed the Keyblade, and Sora groaned.

"What's wrong?" sky-blue gave him an anxious look.

"Seems Oblivion's taken a shine to me because it doesn't want to let the Kingdom Key through. That, and it's only letting a few others get by as well," he stated. Kairi frowned.

"Maybe it's because Oblivion's your heart incarnate?" the others looked stunned by the statement.

"What did you just say, Kairi?" asked Tadashi. The three Keyblade wielders looked at the other six and their expressions said volumes of their displeasure at having to answer the question.

"Well, Sora, go on...summon it out."

Sora took in a deep breath and held out his other hand before summoning out Oblivion's opposite – Oathkeeper. In all its angelic glory, the white Keyblade looked nothing like Oblivion's Gothic, dark design; however, it wasn't just their appearance that gave away whose heart the Keyblades represented; it was the Keychain charms. While Oathkeeper had Kairi's good luck charm made of Thalassa shells, Oblivion had Sora's crown pendant in solid black at the end of an equally black chain. This was his and Kairi's hearts in their true persona, and in knowing that, some part of him always seemed reluctant to summon Oathkeeper for fear something would happen to it. However, right at this moment, he had other problems.

"This is Oathkeeper and Oblivion – they're Sora's dual-wield Keyblades," Kairi said.

"Their beautiful, but...what does that have to do with what you said about Sora's heart?" the blue-eyed boy looked a bit uncomfortable as he shifted his gaze to the floor.

"Oathkeeper is Kairi's heart, and Oblivion is mine. I'm using representations of our hearts to combat the Heartless, and I used these against the Organization..." Himitsu looked them over and gave Oblivion a confused look.

"I see...what are those things at the end of them?" she questioned. Sora seemed to perk up slightly.

"Oathkeeper has Kairi's good luck charm on the end of it. She made it out of Thalassa shells, so that if we got lost when we sailed out to find other worlds, we could always find our way back to one another..." Riku laughed.

"I guess it worked, because didn't you have that with you when we got back to the Islands?" he asked.

"Yea, I just recently gave it back to Kairi. But...at the end of Oblivion is my crown pendant...that's because Oblivion is a representation of me and my heart." Tidus eyed the black Keyblade.

"It looks demonic, almost...I don't see how your heart is connected to it at all," he stated. Sora laughed a bit and smiled.

"Well...I've gone through some harrowing events since I started learning all this. Between becoming a Heartless and all the other things up till now, it's a wonder my heart's still as pure as it is." Riku sighed.

"Enough talking! We got to start practice!" he said as he clapped his hands.

"Right..."

The three Keyblade wielders set to the center of the room, and the moment they did, the bowling-pin-like objects changed shape and grew in size. One grew into a spidery looking creature with a black-and-red heart sigil on its back as it scuttled forward. Sora glared at it as Riku flinched, while Kairi gave it a confused expression. Taking in a deep breath, Sora spun both his Keyblades in hand and looked to the other creatures that had been formed out of the objects, and turned to the ones coming in behind them. With a jump, he was in the air and coming down atop the objects like it was nothing. He sliced into the towering figure and it vanished, before it rolled away and shifted form again. Kairi went after the spidery creature, taking it down with her Keyblade as she held her hand out and cast a blizzard spell that had a bit of effect upon the thing, as Riku turned to the left and took quick care of the other one. The pins rolled around and then swiftly transitioned to yet another set of smaller, wobbling creatures with large yellow eyes.

The three of them looked at the small imitation Heartless, and Sora looked the thing over as he tried to reason why the pins decided to take the form of Heartless. However, he personally was happier with the Heartless than a Nobody. Holding his Keyblades to his sides, Sora took towards the smaller Heartless and made quick work of them, before spinning Oathkeeper out like a boomerang. The white Keyblade spun around the room with a loud whipping noise before returning to Sora, who caught it as he used a fire spell and channeled it through Oblivion. Kairi kept using her Blizzard spell and Riku used a few other spells such as Aero – an air-based spell that caused quick gusts of wind – and Stop, which froze the Shadow Heartless long enough for him to take out large numbers of them in just a few strikes.

Finally, the trio stepped back together and waited for the next hit. While it didn't seem like much to any outside eye, the six watching the teenagers saw otherwise. This was slightly intense and just enough for them to practice their motions without causing too much damage. Himitsu and Akira glanced to one another before smiling as their attention turned to their sons, with a soft smile on one's features, and a curious on the other's. Tadashi was watching his daughter with pride evident in his eyes, and the three other teenagers stared onward in awe.

Sora cut a back flip and landed almost perfectly in a crouch as he slid back away from the larger black creatures that the pins had transformed into this time. It was as they continued to watch that Himitsu began to notice Sora giving off a slightly worn appearance. His eyes looked a bit weak, and his skin had begun to pale a bit; however, she decided it was from him merely being out of commission for so long. Still, she chose to keep an eye upon the three teenagers as they continued their practices. It all stopped, however, when the pins rolled away and then turned again, and this time into something that had the room deathly still. The pins rotated, and suddenly, the trio were surrounded by black-cloaked figures. Sora instantly stepped away and stared wide-eyed at the scene.

"Sora!" Riku grabbed the boy's shoulders as he stumbled back a bit, and the others stared onward at the sight of the boy panicking as the cloaked figure grew closer.

"Sora, it's okay!" Kairi pulled him into her arms as he began to cling to her, and the others were instantly on their feet. Himitsu raced forward without thought, and one of the cloaked figures moved towards her.

Sky-blue grew wide as he leaped to his feet and shot a fire spell at the figure, before slashing it with both his Keyblades in a manner that had the group freezing as he stumbled in his landing and laid to his side as a sharp pain went up from his ankle. Sora hissed in pain as he braced himself with Oblivion before standing slowly, while he tried to do his best to stay standing. Kairi moved forward and grabbed onto his other arm, before he vanished Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Himitsu turned to him and took his arm as he moved to where he could see if he'd done damage to his ankle again or not.

"Wait, don't! You'll hurt it more," Himitsu stated as she helped him move to the wall, while Kairi sat beside him.

"What the hell was that?!" the pins remained standing, and Riku eyed the six people.

"They're programmed with our memories. When we put magic into them, the memories attached can sometimes affect it. Since it's set up to notice who's an enemy and who's an ally in our memories, it will take the forms of our enemies sometimes, but...I don't think any of us expected it to take this form..." he explained.

"That's..." Sora let his mom check his ankle, and the woman frowned as she felt it before sighing in relief.

"It's just tense because you've not used it like that in a while. Doing your practicals is a smart idea, because it'll help you get both your leg and your body back into shape," she said.

"Okay..." Himitsu placed her hand atop his head.

"It's alright, Sora; everyone understands that these cloaks are the reason you and everyone else got hurt," she stated. He nodded as he kept his head down.

"Let's stop for now, okay?" the group agreed, and Selphie walked towards Sora and crouched down to where he was seated.

"You, Riku, and Kairi are amazing, and I know it's frustrating...but you'll overcome it, okay? Sora?" she inquired. Sky-blue looked to her, and he gave her a small smile.

"Thanks, Selphie."

"No problem; now, how about we get ready to go and see the town," she said as she stood.

"Sounds like a plan!"

Riku deactivated the pins,and the group began to cheer up while heading for the door, as Sora stood and moved his ankle enough to where he was sure he could walk on it before they began to leave, intending on heading towards the town. As the group of nine started back from the hallway, they were greeted with the sight of the King standing at the top of the staircase. The three Keyblade wielders pushed ahead of the other six and bounded up the staircase, before looking to the mouse King as he cleared his throat, and the others paused in questioning.

Himitsu frowned at the scene and hoped that it wasn't something serious that had happened. The three of them had just started to fully recover from their most recent ordeal, and from what they'd just seen, Sora still had severe trauma attached to the black-cloaked figures that he needed to overcome before he could go back out into the worlds. The black-haired woman watched the scene before her and felt her heart leap into her throat as the King pulled out a piece of parchment and cleared his throat again. The mouse King looked up to them once more and Sora crouched to his eye level, while the other two awaited to see what the King had to say.

"I have a message from Master Yen Sid for you two, Sora, Riku," he stated.

"From Master Yen Sid? What is it?" the King looked to the three of them.

"Your Majesty? Did something happen?" asked Riku.

"No, but here, Sora; he asked me to make sure the two of you read it so that you would know what he meant."

Sora took the piece of parchment from the King and stood back to his full height before opening it up to see what was written within it. The others began to walk closer and up the stairs as he stood there at the landing, reading through the note with Kairi and Riku. The three adults and three teenagers stood a bit away from them, not wanting to encroach upon something that could have been for only their eyes as Sora swiftly read the note, and then reread it with a deadpan expression.

 _Dear Sora and Riku,_

 _As Keyblade Masters, it is within your rights, as well as expected of you, to, at some point, take on students of your own, to one day give them the Mark of Mastery examination. However, due to the fact that you both, as well as Kairi, are still recovering, I see it reasonable to have your guests fill in as your partial students. Sora, I have learned that you took to teaching Kairi magic as soon as you were feeling up to it, and now I task both you and Riku with this job: teach your parents and your friends basic magic for their defense. I only recommend two spells: Reflect and Cure. They will need nothing more, unless you see to reason that they may need to know something to better defend themselves with._

 _Now, you both may question my judgment upon this matter, and I will explain why. Because they have been in contact with both of you, as well as Kairi, I do not question that Organization Thirteen could take that as an opportunity to bend one of you to their will. They need to be able to protect themselves, and in the wake of the Dream Drop, I believe you will agree with that choice. One more thing: do not, under any circumstances, let them touch or grasp your Keyblades; by doing so, you could potentially mark them with your energy, and that will make them targets even more so than they are now. Please proceed with caution, and enjoy your time with your families._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Master Yen Sid._

Sora let out a groan of frustration as he folded up the paper and stuffed it into his pocket. He couldn't believe the words he had just read, and yet he knew he had definitely read them. Sighing, the chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old looked to his mother, Riku's mother, and Kairi's father, before glancing momentarily at Selphie, Tidus and Wakka. His expression read disdain and a severe desire to not comply with what he'd just read; however, if Master Yen Sid had recommended it, then he couldn't exactly argue with the wizard's choice – regrettably, even he saw the reason within the decision – even if he was a Keyblade Master now, he still knew there was nothing to be done about it now. Riku patted his back, and Sora turned to look at them.

 _"I fucking hate my life sometimes...what the hell is Master Yen Sid thinking? Letting them learn magic, of all things! If they weren't targets before...they sure as hell will be now."_

"Well, this place just got interesting," Riku muttered.

"No fucking duh!" Himitsu frowned.

"Sora, watch your language," she stated sharply. The woman honestly wasn't sure when he had picked up cussing, but she suspected that it had something to do with all of his world hopping. Sighing, she stepped forward, and Sora gave her a defeated look.

 _"For a first effort in trying to block this situation...this feels kinda last ditch..."_ he thought as he looked to her.

"Sorry...but...looks like all of you are going to get your wish..." the group looked at him in a confused manner.

"What are you talking about?" questioned Tadashi.

"Master Yen Sid gave the all clear...the six of you are going to be learning some magic." the six of them looked stunned.

"But didn't you say that you couldn't do that?" asked Selphie. King Mickey piped in at that.

"Well, normally he could be in some trouble if he started teaching you magic; however, the person who gives permission to teach magic to non-Keyblade users is the current residing Grand Master, which so happens to be Master Yen Sid. He sent a confirmation that Sora and Riku can teach the six of you magic."

"Seriously?" asked Tidus.

"Yep, but...let's enjoy the rest of the day! It's only noon, and we haven't even gotten off the castle grounds yet." the group nodded, and King Mickey looked back to the three Keyblade wielders.

"I've got some business to attend to; Sora, Kairi, Riku, you know the rules, and I'll see you soon," the King stated as he took his leave.

"So, shall we go?" the others agreed to the question and began to head for the exit of the castle, planning on enjoying their day, despite the slightly rough start to it.

 **{….}**

 _Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Yes, I know, it's taken two whole chapters for them to get to where they were heading. However, I figured pacing it like this rather than cramming it all into one chapter would make it flow better. And don't worry, it's not going to constantly be like this – the story will be picking up after chapter 5, I swear! Also, we will be seeing some alone time with the parents, and some discussions taking place.

By the way, next chapter we will be in Disney Town, so can anyone say ice cream? Does anyone else remember that out-of-whack ice cream machine from Birth by Sleep? That thing was hilarious! Well, see you guys next time!

Preview:

"What kind of stuff do you guys do in town?"

"There's a great ice cream shop near here!"

Chapter 5: Oathkeeper


	5. Chapter 5: Oathkeeper

Chapter 5: Oathkeeper

 **{Disney Castle Road: 12:17pm}**

"What kind of stuff do you guys do in town?" asked Wakka as the group of nine walked towards Disney Town from the castle.

"There's all kinds of shops, and a park...sometimes during the fall or very early summer, they'll put on plays." the group looked at the beautiful walkway made from pale cobble stone, and the soft colors of the flowers around them.

"That sounds like fun. How many times have you guys gone to the town?" questioned Selphie.

"We went on our first outing at Sora's birthday." the group looked to the chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old, who seemed rather relaxed as he walked beside them with his hands in his pockets.

"Yea, you just turned sixteen, didn't you?" asked Tidus as he jumped in front of Sora.

"I turned sixteen in February; Tidus, you've known me since we were seven...that's kind of sad..." the blonde moped as Sora skipped ahead of them, using an Aero spell to kick his feet from the ground as he moved away from the blonde, who tried to make a grab at him to apologize.

"Tidus! _Don't grab at him like that!_ Sora, Kairi, and Riku are still hurt!" exclaimed Selphie with a shriek, as she smacked her boyfriend with her purse.

"Sorry..." Sora turned to walk backwards to face them as he watched the insanity unfold.

"Um...are you two done yet?" he asked as he tried to reign in his smirk at the sight of them bickering.

"We're done," the two stated as Kairi laughed, and moved towards Sora.

"Give them a break, okay? This is all new to them." sky-blue eyes looked to the side in faint annoyance.

" _O-kay_...but I won't be held responsible for my actions if something happens," he stated as he used a flowmotion spell to skip forward a bit. The group looked a bit surprised at his movement, while his form momentarily gleamed amethyst-toned, before Riku laughed.

"Are you trying to race me with the flowmotion spells?" sky-blue eyes narrowed.

"Maybe... _what?_ Are you going to try and beat me, _Riku?_ " asked Sora, as he gave the silver-haired teen a smirk.

"You're on!"

Riku's form lit up a silvery-yellow tone, and he shifted his body weight before racing forward towards the blue-eyed sixteen-year-old, as the boy rolled his eyes and jumped, bounding away from him in a few steps that had a faint ring to them, before he landed and waited for the next move. Riku came to Sora again, and the other only laughed before jumping towards the nearest hard surface as he crouched and then sprang forward – leaping far into the air, and then landing in another crouch as he watched the silver-haired teenager frown at him. As the others watched the two boys, Kairi laughed a little. She knew just enough about the flowmotion spells to inform the others, but was currently having too much fun watching Sora and Riku bound around the place and show off their newest abilities.

"What's going on? They're bounding all over the place like a bunch of grasshoppers!" exclaimed Tidus.

"It's a type of magic, right?" Kairi nodded as she looked to her father.

"Yea, it's called flowmotion; it allows the person using it to move swiftly and easily from one place to another. There are three types of flowmotion spell sets: the first is called Step, and it allows the user to move about in a bounding manner over certain distances – that's the one they're using the most, but there are other two that Sora likes the most," she stated.

"What are the other two?" Kairi thought for a moment.

"Well, there's Glide, which allows the person using it to slip across a surface upon a type of magical trail that can cover a short or long distance. I saw Sora use it during our most recent fight to get to me when I fell from the portal we used," the red-haired girl said as she looked to them.

"And the last one?" asked Himitsu.

"The last one is definitely Sora's favorite, and is called Sweep. The motion allows the user to spin across one area and increase their speed and send them to another area. From what I saw, it can also increase the force of impact." Selphie whistled.

"Wow Kairi! You know a lot about it," she said.

"Thanks; I've been pouring over this stuff since we got here. Master Yen Sid wanted me to be knowledgeable about the spells and magic that can be used so I would understand the concept better once I began to learn it." Tadashi watched the boys in interest as Sora landed and then did a back-flip, before bounding off the road once more.

"It's most certainly impressive," stated the man as he watched Riku try to tag Sora, who dropped into a crouch before he cartwheeled back in their direction. The group stared onward in surprise as Sora landed not far from them and near a lamp post. Sky-blue looked to the lamp post in a mischievous manner before smirking to Riku, who groaned.

"Is he about to..." Kairi nodded.

"Yep, Sora's going to use Sweep," she stated as the boy jumped up and grabbed the post.

The second he touched it, Sora was spinning in a fast motion and shooting off towards Riku, who barely had time to dodge as he was tagged, and Sora skipped to a halt behind him. Kairi laughed as Sora turned to face them, and Riku gave him an irritated expression before stating something about the boy's height. Kairi winced as she realized the others were about to experience Sora and Riku's back and forth. The red-haired girl tried to forewarn the others, but the moment she opened her mouth, it had already begun.

"We're not all _ogres_ , Riku!" Sora stated with a blunt tone as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"And we're not all from the _Shire_ either, Mr. Baggins." Sky-blue narrowed in the face of a challenge. The group paused as they approached, and Sora cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember asking for a statement from the assistant of the White Witch," he replied. Himitsu stared onward as Riku narrowed his eyes.

"And you suspect it's better to act like the girl on fire? Eh? Mockingjay?" Sora rolled his eyes.

"The only mocking thing around here is you," he replied.

"You're one to talk! You still look fresh from the Black Cauldron!" the group of six watched in shock as the back and forth continued, while Kairi did her best to prepare to step in.

"I thought you were smart..." Riku frowned. Kairi groaned.

"What are you..." Sora stretched a bit, and then came towards Riku.

"I've never been so wrong!" Riku frowned.

"I suppose you thought that was terribly clever, you little mud-blood," the silver-haired teen snapped. Sora gave him a deadpan look.

"At the very least...I do not remind those around me of a sparkling vampire." Cyan eyes narrowed.

"Sora..." the boy laughed.

"Come on, Riku, cheer up!" Riku shook his head.

"Why?" Sora rolled his eyes as he jumped up atop the guard of the bridge they were now crossing.

"Because we're with everyone, and they're getting to see what our lives are like now," he said.

"How is that a good thing?" Sora turned to look at the others and then to Riku.

"Well, they're our family and friends...right?" Cyan eyes looked the boy over.

"Yea..." Sora gave him a glance and smirked.

"Get it?" Riku looked him over.

"Got it," he said. Sora jumped down with a simple slip of flowmotion before looking to the others with a smile, before he turned his attention back to Riku.

"Good."

With that, Sora walked a bit ahead, not minding much as he let the others trail not far behind. Himitsu watched him as the other children caught up with him and began to talk about the town. She smiled, but still couldn't help but feel worried as she eyed the lack of his gloves. Sora had a reason for wearing them so often, and it wasn't merely to protect his hands. The black-haired woman sighed in defeat before she turned her attention to the area around them – it was beautiful and tranquil; however, she did wonder if it was the best place for Sora at the moment. Himitsu sighed, knowing that she couldn't change his mind, but she could, at the very least, stay by him and give him the reassurance he needed.

A sudden shout caught Himitsu's attention as she, Akira, and Tadashi were drawn from their inner musing to see the colorful roofs of Disney Town and the entrance of the town ahead of them. The children waved them over, and they soon were walking through the first street of the town, taking in all of the colors and people there. Many different sounds and sights met the six off-worlders as they tried to take in everything in realization that this was the world their three children had been brought into. Akira smiled as she saw Riku ruffle Sora's hair and point out a few details of the town to the others and herself, while Kairi did the same for her father. Himitsu remained quiet and allowed Sora to be to himself for the time being.

Akira had known for quite some time that Sora was suffering mentally from the trauma he'd endured in this most recent escapade; however, she was also concerned for what she saw with Riku. Her son had become much more guarded about certain things and insisted upon taking care of his own wounds, or having Kairi tend to them while Sora was sleeping, and once he was up, Sora tended to them. At first, Akira believed it was Riku trying to get closer to Kairi, but when she had seen Sora and Kairi walking along the beach holding hands, and the red-haired girl kissing the brunette, she knew that wasn't the case. Then, she noticed another detail that worried her.

Riku was refusing to tell her something vital. True, the three teenagers hadn't said hardly a word about the most recent battle past explaining a little about Organization Thirteen, but that was the end of the topic, and it scared her. What were they hiding? Surely the King and this Master Yen Sid hadn't requested they not speak of anything, and yet, Akira had the worst feeling that the children had chosen not to speak of it of their own volition. The woman's dark cyan eyes looked to her son, and she took in a deep breath. For now, she would have to allow them to enjoy their peace; after all, no one knew how long such a precious thing would last in their lives.

"Hey! Let's get some ice cream," Kairi said as she grabbed Sora's arm, and Riku smirked as the others eyed the two momentarily.

"They'll figure it out before too long. I got it the minute I saw them near one another," the silver-haired teenager thought.

"Is there a shop near here?" the red-haired girl nodded.

"There's a great ice cream shop near here! Sora, do you remember where?" she asked. The blue-eyed boy thought for a moment.

"It's on Fourth Street at the left."

"Is it good?" questioned Tidus. Riku laughed.

"Of course it is! Huey Dewy, and Louie run it for their uncle when he's not here. Scrooge is very busy, so most of the time, the triplets are either here, or at their shop in Traverse Town." The group eyed the three teenagers strangely as Sora turned to look to them.

"Trust us, you'll love this place," he said with a smile.

"If you say so. We're following you guys around." Riku smirked.

"That might be dangerous; you know how Sora's sense of direction is," he teased. Sora narrowed his eyes.

"Um, last I checked, it was you who got turned around in the forest." Kairi patted Riku's shoulder as he hung his head in defeat, while Sora started towards Fourth Street.

"He's in a good mood, and he's been cheerful almost all day – just let him be for now, Riku," she said.

"Yea..." Sora kept walking, and Kairi ran off to catch up with him, while the others trailed a bit behind with Riku.

"What did Kairi mean by that?" asked Akira as she looked to her son.

"Sora...has days where he won't leave his room. Then there are some days where he's really easy to piss off...Sora...even has these really awful nightmares...the last one took us at least five minutes before we could wake him up."

Riku would never tell the others that Sora had ended up in a Deep Dive, and they had to take precaution when waking him up. However, with everything else that had happened to the chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old, the other problems were expected. His agitation, fear, mistrust, and his nightmares all were symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Sora needed time to heal, and he needed to come about these details on his own. Otherwise, he would never heal right. Riku felt himself tense faintly at the idea of Sora – someone who was so gentle, kind, and compassionate – having to go through this for the rest of his life. A hand rested upon his shoulder, and he looked to his mother, who smiled to him.

"Sora will be alright. He has all of us on his side, and with friends like this – how could he lose?" she said. Riku smiled.

"Thanks, Mom..."

The others started towards where Sora and Kairi were, and as they walked, Tadashi fell in line with Riku as the others began to speed up to where the two Keyblade wielders were waiting for them. As they continued to walk, Tadashi glanced towards the silver-haired teen, and then he looked to Sora and Kairi with a frown. There was no questioning what he felt, and he knew Himitsu and Akira felt it as well – Sora, Kairi, and Riku were hiding something. As for what that was, Tadashi didn't know; however, he had every intention of finding out, once they had returned to the castle. For now, they would enjoy the day.

 **{5 Minutes Later...}**

Sora, Riku, and Kairi had lead the group of six towards a park area where they could enjoy the ice cream Huey, Dewy, and Louie had made. The three of them looked the flavors that the group had gotten. Tadashi had stuck with basic chocolate, while Wakka had gone for a type of cinnamon flavor – how he could stand the heat, the three Keyblade wielders couldn't quite figure out – Akira had a raspberry flavored one, Selphie seemed to have a preference for the orange flavored one, while Tidus had gotten a type that, according to him, tasted like pumpkin, Himitsu had gone for Green Tea, which was a flavor one of the local ice cream parlors on the island had and was one she had always gotten. Then there were the three of them: Riku taking a preference for mint ice cream, Kairi had gotten strawberry, and then all eyes went to Sora, who rolled his eyes as he took a bite out of his cone.

"Sea-salt caramel, huh?" asked Tidus.

"What about it?" the blonde shrugged.

"I thought you didn't like caramel," he said. Sora shook his head, while the others paid little attention to the conversation while Tidus watched the chestnut continue to eat his ice cream and ignore the blonde's insanity.

"I don't like chocolate..." most of them froze. Sora looked up.

"You _seriously_ don't like chocolate?" questioned Selphie.

"What? It's not that uncommon!" Himitsu laughed.

"He's never been very fond of it, unless it's chocolate chip cookies, and even then, only occasionally," she stated.

"Whoa...I didn't know that!" Sora rolled his eyes as he focused on not letting the ice cream he'd been given make a mess.

"Why is that so surprising?" he asked.

"Because you're so hyper; I thought you ate a lot of sugar," said Wakka. Sora narrowed his eyes with an annoyed look on his face.

"I like dark chocolate, or chocolate with cream and coffee in it. But that's it." Riku looked his friend over and smiled.

"It's because he got sick from eating milk chocolate when we were eight," he mentioned.

"Sora? _Got sick?_ " Riku laughed, not being able to help himself, with the looks of shock upon everyone's faces, and then Sora's own annoyed expression.

"Well...it was probably something that was bad that he got a hold of," he replied.

"That's right! Because we all got the stomach flu that year." Sora groaned and put his focus on eating the ice cream before him and set to blocking out the conversation.

"Yea; so now, he'll only eat two types of chocolate, and will make exceptions for milk chocolate on specific occasions," Riku stated as he watched the boy continue to eat and ignore them.

"What about candy in general? I never really saw him eat any when we were growing up," Selphie said.

"I don't really like candy...I'm okay with peppermints and stuff like that...but otherwise, I'm not fond of them." his voice startled the girl a bit, and then she nodded slowly.

"Oh...then why are you so hyper?" asked Wakka with a smile. Sora glanced to the side.

"Because I am." Himitsu shook her head.

"I think it's because you're smarter than most people your age, and you already figured out the information, so you get bored easily," she stated.

"Sora? Smarter than most kids our age? I thought he was about average." Himitsu looked to Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka before shaking her head.

"Nope; Sora never told any of you, but he's a speed reader, and had a four-point-five in junior high school," she said proudly. Their jaws dropped, and Kairi politely laughed.

"Why is that such a surprise?" Selphie looked him over.

"You honestly look a bit like a punk kid who gets into a lot of trouble," the brunette mentioned. Sora sighed heavily as he began to finish the ice cream and tried to block out the faint irritation that wanted to bubble up.

"Especially now, you know? With the way you dress," Tidus stated. Riku eyed Sora's attire as the blue-eyed boy did the same, and then glanced to the side.

"Well, Keyblade Wielders have to wear durable clothing. This was what was given to me by the Three Good Fairies. It's durable, easy to wash, doesn't stain, and is, for the most part, fire resistant, and will allow me to use my magic...so...it only makes sense to me."

"It looks good on you, but you do come across as someone who's a bit dangerous," Akira mentioned.

"I'm a Keyblade Wielder...we're _supposed_ to come off as dangerous. Riku and Kairi are going to be fitted for a few sets of clothes that are magic-based as well." Tadashi gave him a long look.

"So their clothing will look like that, too?" he inquired. Kairi shook her head.

"No, our attire comes from what our preferences are. And some of our clothes will look very normal, and some of it will be more like Sora's, which may look mostly normal, but will have details that aren't – like the fact that the clothing is magic and is remarkably durable." the group nodded a bit, and Riku thought for a moment.

"Did any of you notice the state of some of our clothes when we came back to the islands?" he asked.

"Not really; the three of you were so badly beaten up, it's a wonder we noticed anything else at all." stated Akira. Himitsu frowned at that and then looked to Riku.

"Actually, Sora's clothes were for the most part intact, but with a few burns and cuts to them." Riku nodded.

"Sora's clothing was one hundred percent magically made, as were my own, down to my shoes. Kairi's weren't, and they were in far worse shape than ours," he pointed out.

"You're right...we had to throw hers away. But I noticed that Sora's clothing and yours seemed to be, for the most part, salvageable." Sora tilted his head.

"Yea, I still have those clothes, too," he said. Kairi and Riku stared in shock at his statement.

"Why would you keep that shirt?" Sora gave Kairi a long look.

"I had the Three Good Fairies change the detail on the front from its original shape, no worries," he stated as he laid back in the grass – now finished with his ice cream – and closed his eyes.

"Okay..." Sora glanced to her.

"It's fine, Kairi, promise." he gave her a smile, and the others all glanced to one another as he sat up and placed his hand on hers.

"Well, if we're all done, shall we go and see what else this place has got?" asked Himitsu. The group nodded and stood, before going back towards the cobblestone streets and brick buildings, where they spent the day enjoying the peace and normalcy, knowing that, sometime soon, it would be over.

 **{…...}**

 _So cut me from the line, dizzy, spinning endlessly. Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: just a fun little chapter. I wanted to do this chapter as kind of a peace point before going back to them learning more about what really happened in the Dream Drop event.

Master Yen Sid won't show back up until the middle of the story, and by then, the others will know a lot. The next chapter is a rather fun one because the brooms and mops are involved, and we get to see some SoKai moments.

Also, yes, I have actually tried all those flavors of ice cream, and my personal favorite is also Sea Salt Caramel. It was suggested by a reader who mentioned that it was kind of like the Sea Salt Ice Cream from the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts II games. Himitsu's favorite was based off of a friend's mother's favorite, while the others were based off of their personalities, or what I believed they would prefer.

Preview:

"I suggest you run."

"Why does this not surprise me?"

Chapter 6: Secure


	6. Chapter 6: Secure

Chapter 6: Secure

 **{Disney Castle: May 7th 2013, 9:01am}**

Himitsu crept into the hallway where the other children were and found the door that lead to her son's room before she started to look around the hall. It wasn't overly ornate, but there were many doors present, which told her it was meant to house roughly twenty Keyblade Wielders. Judging from the way this floor was done, it was meant specifically for those who were capable of wielding a Keyblade, and that got her to thinking about the size of the floor and the wing. At the center of the floor was a large foyer area with a wrought-iron chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The floors were all solid hardwood with a dark, rich polish, and there were seven hallways with what seemed to be twenty rooms each – ten on each side of the hall – that were fully equipped with everything but a kitchen. She smiled as she looked at the scene around her, and then took in a breath that almost sounded sorrowful.

At one point in time, this entire floor, from the library, the balcony, and the passageways and halls, were full of Keyblade wielders; however, they were now almost completely empty. Himitsu knew that meant that the Keyblade War had taken out most if not nearly all of the Keyblade Bearers in that time period. With a depressed look around the area, Himitsu stepped forward and knocked softly upon the door, before hearing nothing come from behind it. Taking that as a sign that Sora wasn't awake or hadn't heard her, she stepped forward and slightly jostled the handle before seeing it was open.

Carefully, Himitsu cracked the door and peeked into the room to find Sora still fast asleep on the bed, snuggled into the comforter. Smiling, the woman shut the door and made her way towards the boy, before she slipped over and sat down, softly, so not to wake him. Dark chocolate-brown eyes looked the boy over as he continued to rest, unknowing that she was even there. While Sora seemed to have become a light sleeper, he also could still be remarkably unaware of his surroundings.

As she watched him, Himitsu took in some of his changes since he'd left the island. Sora was still growing up and getting older. He had bandages still on his cheek and forehead, but he also had what looked like bandages across his shoulders, arms, and sides. Taking in a deep breath, Himitsu reached forward and carefully pulled the blanket back, before looking at the bandages and gauze that continued to cover the boy in odd areas. The black-haired woman sighed before pulling the comforter back over his shoulders as she looked to him, and noticed a streak of white in his hair near his bangs that had her staring in confusion. What had that come from? What had done that? The woman reached out once more and placed her hand atop his head, nestling her fingers in his soft hair as she threaded her fingers through it. This was yet another thing he had gotten from his dad – his hair was soft and smooth as silk, despite its messy, tousled state. Smiling, Himitsu continued to brush her fingers through his hair, before slowly, sky-blue eyes began to open, and the woman looked to see what was happening as he slowly looked to her.

"Mom?" his voice sounded a bit scratchy, and his hair was messed in such a way that his bangs hung in his eyes, making them appear brighter than normal.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she stated as she brushed his bangs away from his eyes.

"What are you doing up? It's early." she shook her head.

"Sora, it's nine-twenty in the morning," she said. Sora looked to the clock beside the bed and sighed as he laid his head back down upon the pillow.

"Fine..." she laughed faintly before brushing her fingers across his cheek.

"Sora, you..." Himitsu frowned.

"Hmm?" she placed the back of her hand to his forehead and cheeks before frowning again.

"You're running a fever," she mentioned with a faintly concerned tone.

"Yea...I would have been up by now, otherwise..." Himitsu shook her head.

"Fine, you need to rest, then," she told him as she stood.

"Where are you going?" Himitsu smiled as she leaned over and brushed his bangs from his forehead before giving him a kiss to his temple. He felt blistering, and that concerned her.

"You need to rest, and I need to check you over. So, I'm going to get my first-aid kit," she said.

"Oh..." she rolled her eyes.

"Well, I need to see how high that temperature is, young man. I'll be right back." With that, Himitsu shut the door, and Sora sighed in defeat.

"Dammit all..."

 **{10:27am...}**

The fact that Sora was sick had reached the others fairly quick that morning, and soon, Sora had Kairi sitting with him on the bed, while his mother was tending to helping out in the kitchen, and Riku was doing his best to keep the others away. He was thankful for the assistance, considering the pounding headache that had currently decided to join the fever. Kairi sighed as she wrung out a cloth from a cold bowl of water, before she brushed Sora's bangs out of the way and proceeded to dab his throat and face with the cloth before lying it flat atop his forehead. Sora nestled into the blankets as the cool cloth eased some of the heat while Kairi watched him.

"You look like that felt good," she said.

"It did..." Kairi smiled as she reached forward and placed a gentle hand to his cheek.

"Sora, can I ask you something?" she questioned.

"What?" sky-blue gave her a tired look, and she brushed his bangs away from his face again.

"I wanted to know...if you thought about me while you were gone..." the girl fidgeted a bit, and he smiled in an exhausted manner.

"I thought of you all the time, Kairi...I don't think there was a minute where I wasn't thinking of you, wherever I was," he answered. Kairi smiled as she reached into her pocket and unfolded an envelope.

"This was something I wrote for you while you were gone...but I never got to give it to you." Sora moved a bit to see what was on it.

"What's it say?" he asked. Kairi smiled.

"Well...it has something I wanted to make sure you knew while you were gone...will you...will you read it?" Sora sat up and took the envelope from her before slowly opening it. Once open, he pulled the letter from it slowly and unfolded it.

 _Thinking of you, wherever you are._

 _We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend._

 _Now I will step forward to realize this wish._

 _And who knows: starting a new journey may not be so hard._

 _Or maybe it has already begun._

 _There are many worlds, but they share the same sky -_

 _one sky, one destiny._

 _\- Kairi._

Sora took in a deep breath as he read the words over and over, before looking to Kairi, who was staring at him with a bit of hesitation on her face. Smiling, Sora laid the letter aside and grabbed Kairi's arm before he pulled her forward. Kairi froze as warm, soft lips connected with hers, and her eyes grew wide as Sora tugged her to him in a deep kiss. The girl felt her eyes slowly close before she returned it as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap before knotting his fingers in her hair. Kairi wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping her close as he continued to give her a slightly probing kiss. Kairi didn't need to hear what he thought of the letter, he had told her the second he'd kissed her – I love you, and thank you for remembering me. She had hoped to give him a glimmer of hope, and had been able to, even if it had come at a moment where she hadn't expected it to be needed.

As the kiss continued, the two of them remained unaware of the events going on outside, as Himitsu walked by Riku, who received a thanks, before she opened the door and paused at the scene of Kairi pulled into Sora's lap, with their arms wrapped around one another as the boy kissed her. Himitsu set down her tray and shut the door, startling the two teenagers as they broke apart, and Kairi turned red, while Sora grew darker in color.

"Oh, my..."

"Um...mom...I, um..." Sora found himself unable to speak. Himitsu walked over, stern-looking, as she looked him in the eye, and then smiled.

"It's about time, you two! We were wondering when you would stop dancing around one another!" she said with a giddy laugh. The two stared, dumbfounded, as the woman wrapped them both in a tight embrace, and then kissed the top of her son's head, and then smiled to Kairi as she hugged her again.

"I'm...very confused." Himitsu smile again.

"Sora, Kairi, I was hoping that the two of you would end up together. You've both got something very special," she stated as she looked at the two of them while they sat side by side, and then sat down before them upon the bed.

"Special?" Himitsu placed a hand upon Sora's face and watched as Kairi leaned against the boy as he looked to her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Yes, the two of you have a connection. When I was young, my grandmother used to tell me about something known as a heart sake. That is someone who is part of your heart, and you are part of theirs. I think some people call it a soulmate now-a-days; however, this is what I believe the two of you have," she stated.

"Heart sake...I think I like that more than soulmate..." Kairi snuggled up to Sora, and he leaned his head against hers, while Himitsu smiled.

"As did I. Sora, just take care of her, and Kairi? Keep him out of trouble, okay?" Himitsu asked.

"What are you talking about?" she giggled.

"I'm giving you my blessing to get married when the two of you are ready. The two of you were made for one another," she said.

"Mom..." Himitsu teared up a little bit.

"Oh..." the woman pulled Sora into a tight embrace suddenly. The boy blushed, trying to get loose, as Kairi laughed.

"Mom! Let go!" Himitsu fake sobbed as she hugged him tighter.

"Oh! My little boy's all grown up!" she wept.

"Mom! I'm only sixteen! I'm not a grown up yet!" Sora pulled back in distress.

"But you've got a girlfriend, and she'll be your wife before you know it! And I'll have grandkids!" stated Himitsu as she held onto the boy.

"WHAT?!" Himitsu let go and laughed as Sora looked to her with a frayed look.

"Sora, you're too cute. Sweetheart, I love you," she said as she reached out and hugged him.

"I love you, too, Mom." Kairi smiled as Himitsu held out her arm and pulled her into the embrace.

"Take care of one another, always," she said as she closed her eyes and held the two in her arms.

"We will..."

 **{Disney Castle: May 8th 2013, 2:44pm}**

Sora had been walking down the hallway, minding his own business for the most part, and then he heard a scream of shock. Rushing forward, Sora felt momentary panic at the thought that perhaps Heartless had sneaked their way into the Castle, therefore he prepared to draw his Keyblade as he raced around the corner and was met headlong with a hoard of brooms racing along the corridor, while Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, Tadashi, and Akira were running at top speed away from it. Sora saw them turn towards him and focused his flowmotion spells into the soles of his shoes, before he jumped up and cut a backwards flip before landing atop the lowest of the beams that ran between the two areas of the ceiling. Sora stood atop it from there and watched as the brooms seemed to momentarily lose sight of the others, and he sighed – they had a lot to learn.

"I suggest you run," he stated. Everyone looked up.

"How did you get up there?!" Sora sat down atop the beam.

"I jumped," he said as the scuffling sound of the brooms came around again.

"How do we stop these things?!" the group began running again as the brooms and mops began to run them in circles.

"You don't... _you just run_ ," Sora told them as they looked at the sight of the at least sixty brooms and mops that were closing in.

Sora watched as Kairi and Riku came out of the hallway and froze as Himitsu came out beside them. The group seemed dumbfounded as they watched the scene unfold before them, while Sora decided that it was about to get out of hand, and that the brooms needed to be stopped before they caused damage or bodily harm. Sighing, the boy stood before summoning his Keyblade – while he would never do damage to the brooms unless he needed to, Sora would stop them or stun them. Taking in a deep breath, the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master looked down at the scene before descending upon the brooms and mops. The group of people froze as he landed and swung his Keyblade out. This wasn't his default Keyblade, this was Spell-Binder, something all of them had seen before, and he was about to show them exactly what this Keyblade could do. While it could do damage, Spell-Binder, just like Wisdom Crystal, was more magically inclined than anything else, and he intended on using that to his advantage.

Spinning the Keyblade a bit, Sora charged it with some of his own magic before blocking one of the brooms that launched itself towards the group. Himitsu stared onward as Sora never attacked, but blocked and dodged the brooms with what she knew was magic. The blue-eyed sixteen-year-old cut a back-flip before landing to where he aimed the Keyblade like one would a gun and used it to cast a spell. Fire bloomed forward, and the brooms and mops jumped away. Sora narrowed his eyes and dodged a heavy bucket that one of the mops threw in his direction before he activated his magic once more and struck one of the closest brooms with the spell that froze it and several of its companions over. The group paused as Sora made quick work of the objects by freezing them over or stopping them with magic. Once the brooms had finally either been frozen or had run away, Sora stopped and took in a deep breath.

"I really hate those brooms and the mops," he said as he looked at the others. Riku smiled as Kairi shook her head, while Himitsu watched the frozen brooms try to get loose as the group came towards him.

"Thanks! We were beginning to think we'd never get away from them." Sora eyed the five people.

"So, I'm going to go out on a limb..."

"Or archway beam..." interjected Riku. Sora glared at him.

"And say that you stepped on a freshly cleaned floor," he said. The group eyed one another, before Tidus looked down in a glum fashion.

"Yes..." Sora rolled his eyes.

"Why does this not surprise me?" he asked as he stretched a bit before placing his arms behind his head, while his right foot went up on the ball of it.

"Considering you did the same thing not long ago, it makes sense." Sora gave Riku a glare before sighing in defeat.

"Fine; so? Who's up for magic training today?" Sora questioned. The group's interest was piqued.

"Really? What are we going to learn?" Sora tilted his head in thought before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, Master Yen Sid stated that we should teach you two types of spells, but personally...I think we might need to teach you guys an element as well," he said in thought.

"I agree with that. While the two spells Master Yen Sid suggested are definitely important, knowing how to use an element spell could be usable when it comes to defense." Sora glanced to Riku, and then to Kairi.

"Alright then, where do we meet you two?" asked Himitsu.

"Well, the courtyard would be the best place; the one at the east side that's nearest to the beach." the group looked to them.

"There's a beach?" questioned Wakka.

"Yea, but today, we're focusing on the spells you'll be learning. Meet us there at three-thirty on the dot." the group nodded.

"See you then," said Riku.

With that, the three Keyblade Wielders left to prepare for the lesson they would either be giving or taking with their friends and family.

 **{Disney Castle: East Courtyard, 3:30pm}**

Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, Akira, Tadashi, Himitsu, and Kairi stood in front of Sora and Riku, who were eyeing them to try and figure out where to start. Kairi already had learned an element spell – Blizzard, and while that did give her a distinct advantage, it also meant that the others would need to have one more spell tacked onto their training. Sora cleared his throat as he recalled the first spell he learned, and what Donald had asked him. Deciding that could be the best starting point, Sora looked to them and glanced to Riku, who watched the boy with an interested look in his eyes.

"Okay, when I started learning magic, I had to learn most of it on the fly. When I went to Traverse Town – the first world I ended up in – and met Donald and Goofy, I didn't know any magic, and the only thing I did was battle a bunch of Shadow Heartless, but after I formally met them, Donald decided to teach me an element spell. So, I'm going to ask you each a question, and depending upon the answer, I can tell you what type of element will be the easiest for you to learn," Sora stated.

"What's the question?" Riku raised an eyebrow.

"What's your zodiac sign?" Wakka gave him a confused look.

"How does that have anything to do with the first spell we learn?" he asked.

"Simple; every zodiac sign has an element, and that element can determine whether or not you're capable of learning one type of magic quicker than the other." Riku looked Sora over.

"What's the first spell you learned?" he inquired.

"Fire." Riku gave him a long look.

"But you're an Aquarius," he said. Sora flushed a bit and scratched his cheek in thought.

"Well, I might be an Aquarius, but my personality was more like an Aries, so I ended up learning fire first."

"But Aquarius is a water sign, not a fire sign," stated Selphie. Tadashi watched the boy before he shook his head.

"No, Aquarius is an Air sign, actually." the girl looked dumbfounded by Sora's statement.

"Okay then...so, first off, Selphie?" Sora asked.

"I'm a Cancer." he nodded.

"So, you're a water base, your best bet would be Blizzard, then; you go and stand by Kairi, that's the spell she's been working on. Okay, Wakka?" Sora looked to the red-haired teenager, who smiled.

"I'm a Taurus," he said.

"That's an earth sign, so you'll need to learn gravity. Riku? You're good with that spell." Riku nodded.

"Go stand to the side and wait," he told Wakka, who nodded. Sora then looked to Tidus.

"Well?" the blonde sighed.

"I'm a Virgo," Tidus said as he looked to Riku and Wakka.

"Go on, then." Tidus stood by Wakka, while Tadashi, Akira, and Himitsu stood in front of the two boys.

"I'll save you the trouble; I'm a Libra," Akira said as she looked at the two boys.

"Then I guess Riku would have you, too. Earth and Air balance one another out best, and you'll be able to help keep those two in line." Sora looked to Tidus and Wakka, who were talking about something, while Kairi and Selphie were watching a small crab scuttle by and off down a slope to the shoreline.

"Got it," Akira stated as she went to stand by Tidus and Wakka.

"You realize I'm having to teach my mom." Sora put his arms behind his head and propped one of his feet up.

"Yep!" he said with a cheeky grin.

"Little brat." Tadashi cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm a Capricorn," he stated as Sora looked to him.

"Then you're also with Riku. How about this? I'll take your mom, and you take Kairi's dad? You're also an earth element." Riku nodded.

"Come on, Mr. Misaki, I'll help you out," he said. Himitsu smiled to her son as Akira changed places, and Riku eyed the groups.

"How did you end up with all the girls?" asked Himitsu. Sora shrugged.

"Air types...they're more gentle with some things...and some of this magic can be dangerous." she nodded.

"I'm an Aries, so I'm fire. You have fire, water, and air signs with you, Sora," she said with a smile.

"Okay, then..."

Riku and Sora stood in front of their groups and began to consider how to deal with the challenges they were about to face. The two boys weren't sure how long it would take or what sort of dangers would arise; however, Sora was suddenly feeling thankful for learning the water spell Aquara, because he had a feeling that, with one fire type and several others that blended in, they would be needing that spell. Taking in a deep breath, Sora looked at the groups and smiled with a faintly discomforted look in his eyes.

"Alright then, let's get this started."

 **{…...}**

 _Shatter me! Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: You guessed it, the next chapter will feature a mishap in magic. Also, on a note, let me give you a reason for why Sora is listed as an Aquarius:

His birthday is February 12th, 1997, which is in the time frame for an Aquarius.

It's an Air element.

The colors associated with it are: Sky-blue, blue-green, gray, and black.

The Day is: Saturday and Sunday. Sora was born Saturday, February 12th, 1997, at 11:58pm.

The Ruling Planet is Uranus - gives an Aquarius a timid, abrupt and sometimes aggressive nature, but it also gives an Aquarius a visionary quality.

Strengths: Progressive, original, independent, humanitarian.

Weaknesses: Runs from emotional expression, temperamental, uncompromising, can be aloof.

Aquarius Likes: Fun with friends, helping others, fighting for causes, intellectual conversations, a good listener.

Aquarius Dislikes: Limitations, broken promises, being lonely, dull or boring situations, people who disagree with them.

To me, this sounded like Sora. There is a long list of details that match up with him for this sign, but I'll let you guys check that out if you want to. The others are kinda obvious, if you look up their personalities, but I'll list them here for you to see:

Sora – Aquarius, Air.

Riku – Scorpio, Fire.

Kairi – Pisces, Water.

Selphie – Cancer, Water.

Tidus – Virgo, Earth.

Wakka – Taurus, Earth.

Akira – Libra, Air.

Tadashi – Capricorn, Earth.

Himitsu – Aries, Fire.

If you think about their personalities, it makes sense to me. See you guys next time!

Preview:

"Let's start with the basics."

"I want to know what secret you're hiding."

"They can't know what happened...it's too dangerous."

"Should we talk to the kids?"

Chapter 7: Fix Me


	7. Chapter 7: Fix Me

Chapter 7: Fix Me

 **{Disney Castle: Eastern Courtyard 4:09pm}**

"Blizzard!"

Sora put up another reflection spell and hoped that the others would be able get a handle on the element spell they were attempting to teach the others. Riku also had a reflection spell up in defense of the errant spells that kept being fired off. The only two who seemed capable of even remotely using the spells correctly were Kairi and Himitsu. Sora glanced to Riku, who sighed in defeat. They were honestly beginning to question their judgment upon such a benefactor as an element spell. Another random air spell shot off the shield, and Sora put his hands up.

"Stop!" he said. The group paused.

"That could have gone better." Riku eyed the damage to the ground around them.

"Yep, I'd call that a fail," Riku stated as he dropped his shield.

"Your faith in our capabilities is overwhelming, Riku." The silver-haired teen laughed a bit as his mother glared.

"Maybe we should try something else...let's work on the shield spell and then the cure spell, before we set to checking in on the element one again," Sora stated as he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to stop what he knew was coming.

Himitsu frowned as she looked at him. Sora would always do that movement when he was beginning to get a rather bad headache. While Sora wasn't prone to illness, he could get rather bad headaches when he didn't sleep enough or get enough protein. The boy dropped his shield completely and took in a deep breath, as he stepped forward a bit and looked at the group. Himitsu once more frowned, and looked to him as he swayed a bit, and Riku caught his shoulders.

"Sora?" the chestnut-haired boy waved his hand.

"I'm fine, it's just a headache," he stated. Himitsu walked towards him, and reached forward to feel for a return of the fever he'd had yesterday. When she found nothing, she looked him over, and the boy frowned as she made him sit down for a moment.

"Just a headache? Sora, you're pushing yourself too much. We'll work on the cure and shield spells again in a little while. Right now, I want you to rest." he sighed.

"Mom, I'm fine. It's really just a headache," he told her.

"Uhuh, and the tooth fairy doesn't stress over cavities. Sora, I know you...ever since you were a little boy, you stated that you were fine when you weren't." Sora stood, and his body swayed again.

"I'm just a little dizzy! I'll be fine!" he said in a stern tone.

"Sora, I don't want you overexerting your body. You need to let your wounds heal, and..."

Sora stumbled and nearly fell over, causing Tidus to step forward and try to catch him. The second Tidus grabbed him about the waist, though, the other boy jumped backwards and yelped in pain as he landed on the ground, clutching at his waist. Himitsu raced to her son, who shook his head as he took in a deep breath and held in his desire to scream. Tidus didn't know, and neither did Himitsu or the others – the only two amongst the group who knew what had truly happened to Sora were Riku and Kairi, who knew that Tidus had grabbed the sixteen-year-old around the part of his body that bore his Mark of Mastery.

"Sora, are you okay?" asked Himitsu as she settled next to him.

"I'm fine, it's just one of my wounds." Kairi crouched next to him and looked him in the eye, before nodding.

"Let's get you back to the castle. Sora, you need to rest," she said. He nodded a bit, and Riku helped him get up.

"We'll meet you guys back in the dining room after we get him back upstairs to rest for a bit." the group nodded and Kairi took Sora's other side as the boy started walking, while the others watched the three of them leave.

Akira frowned as she looked at the three of them as they went out of sight. Something was still bothering her, and she knew for a fact that Himitsu and Tadashi felt the same. Sora's wounds were worse than they had been on the Island – which was saying something, considering the state he had been in when he, Kairi, and Riku had arrived – however, that meant something to her, and it wasn't good. The children were hiding something, and they were doing their hardest not to talk about it to the adults, but Akira could tell that Himitsu desperately wanted Sora to talk to her, and she could understand why. Sora was the worst off out of the three of them, and Akira knew that he would benefit from talking about it with them; however, that also left her with another problem: What was Riku hiding?

Seeing the contemplation in Akira's eyes, Tadashi knew what she was thinking, and he had no qualms with confronting the trio. Kairi was keeping several things quiet, and while he respected her choice to try and handle things alone, and for his daughter to make her own choice, he knew something was wrong. It could have been him simply seeing her concern for Sora – everyone knew what she felt for the boy – or it could have been something worse. Tadashi trusted his daughter and knew who she took after, which was her mother; but he still couldn't shake the feeling that things were worse than Kairi, or any of them, wanted to let them know.

"Should we talk to the kids?" Akira asked. The two of them looked slightly dumbfounded.

"Maybe later...after Sora's rested up." Himitsu's statement had the other two nodding.

"Yea...that would be best," Tadashi said in agreement.

 **{Upstairs: Wielder's Wing: 5:26pm}**

Riku sighed as he, along with Kairi's help, settled Sora onto the bed, while the red-haired girl set to undoing the chestnut-haired teen's shirt to check his bandages. Remembering where Sora kept his first-aid kit, Riku opened the drawer and handed it to Kairi, who opened it and looked to the chestnut-haired boy, who was wincing as the girl looked at the bandages that were around his torso. Aquamarine eyes glanced the gauze over, and sighed as she took the gauze out and began to slowly unwrap the bandages around Sora and checked over the wounds on him. Compared to the original color of his bruises, which were a dark blackish-blue-purple with an ugly green-yellow around them, they were fading nicely, and his cuts and scrapes were shaping up to leave no scars.

However, Kairi knew, as she set to cleaning one of the bleeding wounds from Tidus's fast grab, that some of the cuts and gashes would leave thin and small silver-toned scars along his body. She sighed as she applied the ointment to the one just at his left hip and looked at the other at his ribs on his right, and tried not to tear up. Sora was wounded and in worse shape than either of them because of the Dark Pulse. Kairi took in a deep breath as she finished applying the ointment Donald and made to help heal and erase the scars and began to bandage the wounds again. As she finished up with the wounds that were the most affected, Kairi glanced to Sora's Mastery Mark and grabbed the ointment in a red bottle, before placing it on her hand and then gently dabbed across the Mark. Sora shrunk back from the touch, hissing in pain as he clenched his eyes closed.

"It'll be fine. You need to apply this until the month is over," Kairi said as Sora bit into his bottom lip a bit.

"I know...but it hurts." Riku smirked a bit.

"Maybe if you put some meat on your bones, you'd not feel it as much," he stated as he looked at the faint outline of Sora's ribs.

"I get _I'm small_ , _okay?_ But you don't have to make a jab about it!" Riku laughed a bit.

"You look like hell, still," he said. Kairi frowned.

"Riku, don't pick on him." the silver-haired teen sighed.

"I know, but seriously, Sora, you look thin," he stated. Sky-blue glanced down.

"The medicine makes me a little nauseated, honestly." Kairi looked him over.

"Sora, you need to eat protein and carbs. Meat and rice would be good at the very least. Himitsu and I could make some stew for you, I know you can eat that," she said. Sora glanced to the side and thought for a moment.

"I guess...don't go out of your way for me, though..." Kairi frowned again, and leaned forward.

Sora stared as the red-haired girl leaned a bit over him and pressed her lips to his. Sky-blue eyes grew wide, while Riku watched the scene with wide eyes. Kairi kept her eyes shut softly as she kissed the boy to keep him quiet before leaning back as he stared at her with an expression that clearly read disbelief.

"Shut up and let me take care of you, silly Keyblade Master," Kairi said.

"Kairi..." Riku smirked.

"You are so whipped!" He stated. Sky-blue narrowed.

"I will show you who's _whipped_ , Riku, if you say one more thing about it."

Kairi frowned at him and smacked Sora's arm.

"Both of you, hush! Let me finish with this and then you need to rest, and I'll see if Himitsu can help me cook something for you," Kairi said.

"Fine..."

Riku looked at the two of them as Kairi finished applying the ointment and placed on the last few bandages. Admittedly, when he looked at the shape Sora was in, compared to his gauze-wrapped torso, right leg, and both his arms, and Kairi's wrapped shoulders, arms, hands, and fingers – he knew why they had opted not to tell their parents about the Mark of Mastery examination; however, some deep part of him knew that, sooner or later, they would learn the truth. Still, Riku wondered how long it would last, and what their parents and friends would think when they told them the entire story about the Mark of Mastery and the Dream Drop. Kairi looked to Sora as he grabbed his shirt and slid it slowly over his head and thanked her, while Riku continued to think over the situation.

"Hey, Sora? Kairi?" the two looked to him.

"Riku? Is something wrong?" Kairi asked him. He looked down.

"I...wanted to know your opinion on telling them the truth..." Sora glanced down.

"They can't know what happened...it's too dangerous," he replied. Kairi looked him over.

"Sora, are you sure we can't at least tell them that..." sky-blue eyes looked out the window before turning back to Kairi and Riku.

"Tell them what? That we were attacked by Organization Thirteen? That we were brutalized? Beaten? That we fought the Darkness? That our wounds are from people practically torturing us? That Kairi was nearly killed? That I died? What about Eternal Sessions? Or the Dream Drop? What about Jack and Yui? What about the fact that the state we're all in is because someone just wanted me dead? How do you think they'll handle that, atop every..." Sora flinched when he sat up too quick, and Kairi placed her hand atop his.

"We understand all of those questions, and we know how you feel – Sora, we feel the same way...but..." Riku sighed.

"If we don't tell them, then they'll learn the hard way, and that could be an Organization attack, like on the Islands," he said. Sora looked down.

"I just don't think we're healed enough to talk about the entire story without causing more scars than we all already have." Kairi reached out and placed a gentle hand to his cheek. Sky-blue eyes met aquamarine ones, and the girl smiled.

"We'll wait and see. If we all three feel like it's the right time to tell them the truth, then we will. Until then, we should wait," she stated.

"Yea, but I did want your opinion on this. I don't even honestly know where I'd begin telling them this..." Riku looked to Sora, who gave him a tired smile.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," he said.

"Okay...I guess..."

 **{Kitchen Dining Room: 6:00pm}**

Himitsu looked to the others as Riku and Kairi helped out in the kitchen with the other teenagers. They had taken place of the brooms and were working away on a few items to prepare for dinner that evening. Himitsu had been helping Kairi cut up potatoes and carrots, while Akira and Tadashi set to handle the dishes that were being used, and finished as they went on preparing and beginning to cook a few items. It was as the idle chatter and polite conversation began to ebb that the two Keyblade Wielders in the room became faintly tense. Riku knew that the adults would realize the truth soon, and that when it came out in the open, it would not end well. Sighing as he finished cutting up the meat for the stew, the silver-haired teen looked to the window, where the sun was setting and cast a firelight tone across the sky – sunsets did for him what sunrises did for many others: it gave Riku hope. He felt secure in them that, while the day was coming to an end, he could hold onto the memories he'd made that day, and could help bring light to the darkest of hours.

"Riku? You cut that piece too big," said Selphie. He looked to the girl and then to the meat he'd been cutting. Not only had he been cutting the pieces too big for someone to chew, but he'd narrowly missed cutting his hand.

"Thanks, I'll fix it." he set to cutting the pieces up again and briefly looked to the sunset, before returning his focus to his task.

"Kairi, I want to know something," said Akira as she looked to the girl.

"Yes, ma'am?" the silver-haired woman looked to Himitsu and Tadashi before sighing.

"What are you three hiding?" she questioned.

"Mom? What are you talking about?" Riku came to Kairi's aid and hoped to stall a bit longer.

"I want to know what secret you're hiding," Tadashi stated as he looked at the two teenagers.

"Secret? Really? That's what you think this is all about? Dad, we're trying to wait and talk about this with you three when we're all ready." Himitsu frowned as she looked to the two of them.

"We understand that, but just tell us...how bad is this going to be?" she questioned. Riku and Kairi both looked down.

"You're not going to like it one bit...but...we're not going to talk about this until we're sure Sora can handle discussing it." Tidus frowned.

"Why wouldn't Sora be able to handle discussing it?" he asked. All eyes turned to him.

"Because, Tidus, Sora has post-traumatic stress disorder." the blonde stared, wide-eyed.

"How come? Sora's...so strong...what happened?" Riku looked down.

"It's really not my place to talk about what was done to him...to all of us...but...Kairi and me need to recover more, too...just give us a little more time," he said. The group looked unsure of the statement.

"Are you sure? Is it...going to be okay?" Kairi smiled as she looked to them.

"We'll all be okay. Right now, we need to heal, and all of us just need to enjoy the time we have with one another," she said.

"Yea...so...is Sora upstairs?"

"No, he's standing behind you," a voice stated.

The group turned to see Sora standing behind Wakka, who turned and looked him over as the boy gave them a small smile and slowly walked over to see if there was anything he could do to help. Himitsu was quick to act, and not a second later, Sora was sitting at the table and watching the group around him cook. Though only a few people knew it, Sora was quite the excellent cook, and enjoyed it as a pass time. Himitsu knew that very well, and yet, she also knew that Sora wasn't well enough to help out. Smiling to him, the black-haired woman walked to her son and sat down with him for a moment, before looking to the boy as she wrapped her arm around him and pulled him to her. Sora sighed a bit as Himitsu kissed the top of his head, and smiled as she continued to let him lean on her. Sometimes it was nice to feel safe for once in a long time, and it was even better to be able to hold onto something from his life prior to the night on the Islands when everything changed and he began a journey that, though it had been anything but easy and calm, he wouldn't trade it for the worlds.

Sora looked at the others as his mother held onto him just a moment longer before getting up to help the others again, and he could only smile to himself because he knew that, if someone gave him the option of going back in time and never choosing to listen to the voice that told him to reach for Riku to save him from the Darkness, and to find Kairi, which left him with her heart; if he was given the choice to erase all of the pain and suffering, the trauma, and trials he'd had to endure, Sora would already have an answer for them before they could even finish – no.

 **{…..}**

 _If only the clockwork could speak, I wouldn't be so alone. We'd burn every magnet and spring. And spiral into the unknown..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: So, Sora and the others are back to down time. Don't worry, the next chapter will have a bit more magic practice, and a SoKai moment! See you guys soon.

Preview:

"We have to leave in two days."

"Just shut up and kiss me."

Chapter 8: Nightmares


	8. Chapter 8: Nightmares

Chapter 8: Nightmares

 **{Disney Castle: May 8th 2013, 5:34am}**

It was nearly dawn one morning when the still silence of the castle was broken by a sharp scream that pierced the air. Himitsu was on her feet instantly and racing down the hall as she ran towards Sora's room as fast as her legs would carry her. Taking in a deep breath, the black-haired woman burst into the door, and went straight for Sora, who was struggling, with the blankets around him and was screaming and yelling as he tried to break free from the nightmare. Himitsu grabbed the boy, and his screaming intensified as he struck out at her and hit her across the face as she tried to wrestle him down. The solo struggle was short lived as a set of footsteps came racing from across and up the hall as Himitsu took no more than a split second to see Riku and Kairi rushing into the room. Riku was quick to slip his arms under Sora and pull him free from the blankets and pinned him so that he wouldn't kick Himitsu as she tried to speak to him and bring him out of his nightmare.

"Sora! Wake up!" Himitsu said as she gently shook him, and tried to draw him out without being rough.

"He's still struggling..." Riku gripped the boy tighter and tried to keep one of his arms around his friend's torso and the other at the top of his legs to keep him from hurting someone.

"What can we do?" Kairi asked as Himitsu kept a hold upon Sora's head to try and coax him out of his sleep.

"Kairi, there's a first-aid kit just under my bed. Go and get it now!"

Kairi raced from the room at top speed, and was swift to find the kit and return to the room. Riku felt his arms ache a bit as Sora continued struggling against him, and snapped his head back only seconds before Riku could move – the silver haired teen felt his lip split, and winced at the faint pain as Himitsu continued to try and shush the boy as Kairi traded places with Himitsu as she grabbed a type of medicine from her kit and injected it into a needle. Aquamarine eyes turned from the sight of Himitsu resorting to a drug to calm the other down, to looking into dark and glassy sky-blue irises. Riku looked at the scene as Sora started to slow his movements when Kairi came into view and kept eye contact with him while Himitsu was staring onward with slight surprise at the sight before her. Something was strange about this, and while she wanted to say that his nightmare was wearing off, it was fairly strange that it only started to ease when Kairi turned her full attention to him.

"Well, I'll be," Himitsu muttered.

Riku let Sora's arms and legs go and he slid to the floor, and slowly, Kairi placed her arms around him while holding him close. Himitsu frowned and then sighed, as she shook her head and capped the needle before she set it aside for later use that she hoped wouldn't happen. Himitsu may have been a nurse, but she had a high aversion to non-holistic treatments for things that could be treated without massive chemicals. Sora's anxiety and his nightmares weren't something that would always require medicine, and she believed the potion that she saw on the bedside table wasn't chemical, but holistic as well. Taking in a deep breath, Himitsu looked at the scene of Kairi holding onto Sora and smiled as she crouched down to their level.

"Kairi? Would you mind staying with Sora? I think he needs you right now," she asked. The red-haired girl nodded.

"I don't mind. Riku? Can you help me get Sora back into the bed? He's dozing off."

"Yea, no problem," he said as he pulled the boy back into his arms, and Kairi got into the bed before he laid the other down, and Kairi laid back down beside him and pulled him into her arms.

"We'll let you two get some rest." Himitsu left the room with her first-aid kit in hand, and Riku eyed the scene of the two of them curled up in the bed together; Sora's eyes were closed, and his breathing shallow.

"He was always the one who could calm and comfort you, and now it's you who is the only one who can keep him calm and help him heal," Riku stated. Kairi smiled as she wrapped her arm up to where she could run her hands through his hair, and smiled.

"Good; it's time I returned the favor." The silver-haired teen shook his head.

"No, Sora never wants anything in return with that one. Kairi? Take care of him," he said as he walked out of the room and shut the door.

"I will..."

Kairi looked the boy over as he slept with his head tucked against her chest, just under her chin, and smiled. Sora seemed so at peace and without a worry in the world – it was almost as if none of the nightmare that had just plagued him even existed. Smiling still, Kairi brushed his bangs from his face, and closed her eyes tightly as she laid back on the pillows and took in the silence of the room and his steady breathing as she heard the faint rustle of leaves in the early morning breeze, and she closed her eyes as she kept herself close to him. For now, she wanted him to be peaceful – even if it was just for a bit longer.

 **{Disney Castle: 8:23am...}**

"Where are Kairi and Sora?" asked Wakka as he looked at the table they were seated at.

"Sora had a really bad nightmare at about five-thirty this morning." the group tensed.

"Gwarsh, is Sora okay?" questioned Goofy. Himitsu smiled to the Captain of the Knights.

"Sora will be fine, he's just sleeping." Tidus frowned.

"That still doesn't answer about where Kairi is," he stated.

"She's with him. It's strange...but...I watched Sora calm down the moment Kairi looked him in the eyes. She snapped him out of the nightmare like it was nothing." The group looked faintly stunned by the statement.

"So, Kairi's upstairs asleep with Sora?" asked Selphie.

"Yes, and leave them be. Sora's exhausted, and Kairi needs to stay with him for now." Tadashi hummed for a moment.

"Don't you _dare_ , Tadashi Misaki! They're not doing anything, and you need to leave that poor boy be!" Akira and Himitsu snapped at once. Riku sighed.

"So that's where that came from..." his mutter didn't go unnoticed.

"What are you talking about?" asked Donald. Riku rolled his eyes.

"Sora and me will do that a lot when we're around each other too much. We end up saying something in sync." the others laughed.

"I remember that! You did that a lot when you guys were about nine or so," said Selphie.

"That sounds very cute." The group looked to see Queen Minnie and King Mickey standing near them.

"Your Majesties!" the two shook their heads.

"No, it's fine; no need to stand," said Queen Minnie.

"Oh, very well. Good morning, Your Majesties." The two Royal mice looked to one another and then smiled.

"And a good morning to you all as well. Now, what was that I heard about Sora having a nightmare?" asked King Mickey, as he and his wife joined them.

"It's the post-traumatic stress. It causes insomnia and nightmares...he had a really bad one this morning." Queen Minnie looked down, forlorn.

"I am so terribly sorry that Sora isn't well. I wish I could do something for him," she stated.

"I have a question; how long are Sora, Kairi, and Riku on leave?" King Mickey looked to them.

"We're hoping until they're fully recovered," the King answered.

"So, quite a while." the King nodded.

"Yes, but I am afraid that they should remain here in the Disney Kingdom until I know for certain that they're well enough to go hoppin' around the worlds like that," King Mickey stated.

"Oh, well...we weren't asking to go world-hopping...we actually wanted to ask if we could take a day in Disney Town...maybe later today." the King gave them a confused look.

"I have no qualms, but why the urgency?" he inquired. Selphie looked down.

"We would love to stay until they're better...but...sadly, we only got a week off work, and then we have to return. It took a lot of pleading to get Mr. Hasagawa to let us off for the week. So, we have to leave in two days." The others looked moderately surprised by the statement.

"We hoped you could stay the whole time, but it's fine. We understand, and..."

Suddenly, there was a shambling noise from the area nearest to them, followed by a shout and a rustling sound as a crash went off, followed by a cat screeching as a small shadow cast itself along the wall. Riku stood to attention, as did King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, before the object came tumbling out in a heap, followed by several brooms. There were two boys, one with black hair and the other with white, lying on the ground, with brooms sweeping at them in a menacing manner. The black-haired boy sat up with a snarl and drew a sword that lit itself on fire at the brooms, and the white-haired teen held up a staff that gleamed blue. The group stared onward in confusion as the duo looked at the brooms in a less-than-pleased manner, and King Mickey lowered his defenses and stepped between the brooms and the two strangers.

"None of that, now! These are our honored guests," the King said. The two brooms bowed and swept away in a flurry, while the others got up to see who the strangers were, as they stood and dusted themselves off.

The white-haired teen was barefoot and had on a blue hoodie and a pair of brown leggings with cords tied around his calves. His eyes were Alice blue, and he wore a slightly teasing smirk upon his features as he leaned against the staff, which had a crook at the top. The other boy was wearing a pair of black pants, sneakers, a dark green shirt with a gray hoodie, and had holster attached to his belt, along with his sword. His skin was slightly tan, his hair raven black, and his eyes emerald green. King Mickey smiled as he looked at the two of them, and Riku let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the two, alongside Donald and Goofy.

"Jack! Yui! What brings you two here?" asked the King.

"Well, we wanted to check up on Sora and the others and see how they were faring." The King smiled as he looked to Yui.

"I got two days off my work because I'm on leave, and I go stir-crazy if I sit still or stay indoors for too long..." Riku laughed.

"Good to see the two of you are recovering nicely," he said.

"Same can't be said about you three, apparently." Riku winced.

"You got me there," he stated.

Jack walked forward and nudged him slightly, as he smiled and gave him a soft pat on the shoulder. Yuki had sent him here to make sure that the others were okay, and while he didn't entirely like the prospect of facing two or more days away from her when he'd only just returned, he did understand why she was concerned. Jack had shared his thoughts on Sora's mental state with her shortly after the Guardian meeting, and he knew it would be something like this that she replied with. Therefore, his lover sent him off with a kiss and told him she'd hold down the fort. Yuki herself was a Guardian of Childhood, and while North was the Guardian of Wonder, Tooth the Guardian of Memories, Sandy the Guardian of Dreams, Bunny the Guardian of Hope, and Jack was the Guardian of Levity or Joy, Yuki was the Guardian of Promise.

"So, where is Sora?" all eyes turned to the boy with green eyes, and Selphie stared momentarily before feeling her jaw slacken just a bit.

"Who are you two?" asked Tadashi. The two glanced to one another.

"Whoops..." Riku smirked.

"Care to introduce yourselves?" he questioned. The two shrugged. The white-haired teenager stepped forward first.

"My name is Jack Frost, I'm the King of Winter and the Guardian of Levity," the now-identified teenager stated with a polite, yet slightly mischievous air.

"Whoa, wait...did you just say..." Tidus gaped.

"Jack Frost? You're real?" the Winter King rolled his eyes.

"Of course I'm real! Every one of us is _real!_ " Jack stated.

"Well, I never thought I'd meet you." The green-eyed teenager laughed.

"That's what my friend Yoichi said! Jack came and got me from my world and said that we needed to check up on all of you guys...and well...my girlfriend pulled some strings with our commanding officer, saying that it was unhealthy for me to stay cooped up while healing, so she suggested some leisure time off-world," he said. Selphie eyed him.

"And you are?" he smiled faintly.

"I'm First Lieutenant Yui Amane, First Head of the Anteiku Unit of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army of Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan," he said. The group gaped momentarily before Akira shook her head.

"Wait, you're in the military? How old are you?" she looked him over, and he tilted his head a bit.

"I'm sixteen; I'll be seventeen this October," he replied.

The sheer thought that he was sixteen years old had the adults in shock alongside the others, and yet, Riku had known that Yui was in the military and had accepted it as a factor of his world's life. He had heard that the boy was a leader in his world's military, but he was definitely impressed by the title. It was rather rare for someone of another world to meet a First Captain of a specialized military unit, and a Seasonal Monarch. However, Riku was also thankful to see that the two of them seemed to have been recovering with little trouble, whereas the three of them seemed to have a subdued but unlimited supply of hurdles to jump over.

"Yui? That's your name, right?" asked Himitsu.

"Yes, what's your name?" she smiled.

"I'm Himitsu Seiren, Sora's mother," she stated. Yui returned her smile.

"Nice to meet the woman who raised someone so nice. Sora is a really great person, you should be proud of him. He did so much to help us survive that battle, and honestly, I think we needed the extra edge." Tadashi narrowed his eyes.

"Why would you say that? Because of how dangerous it was?" he questioned. Jack sighed.

"Look, sir..."

"Misaki, I'm Kairi's father," Tadashi said. Again, the Winter King sighed.

"Very well, Mr. Misaki. Listen, being a Keyblade Wielder is dangerous, and can kill – sad fact of reality – but we have to understand that the reason your daughter, Riku, and Sora were chosen was because there was truly no one better for the job." Yui nodded as he listened to the statement.

"And you believe that, why?" Akira questioned.

"I apologize; I didn't get your name." she smiled.

"I'm Akira Hirigaya, Riku's mother," she stated. The two nodded.

"Right; well, I hate to say it, but it was the same situation with me becoming a Guardian. I didn't want it, but I was meant for it, and because of that...I had to take the path that led me to where I am now. I am several things, but I am also a protector, a warrior, and I have no fear in accepting fate when it's given to me." Yui smirked.

"You need to understand that what your children are doing now is...extraordinary! Their lives have become an occasion to make a difference, and they are rising to it with all their might. I fought beside Sora, Kairi, and Riku, and I couldn't have been more honored to be their comrade," he stated.

"That's...really how you feel about this?" Yui nodded.

"I don't lie. My heart is honest," he said. Himitsu walked up to him and smiled before wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank you for helping them." Yui smiled and returned the hug.

"It's no problem; I truly was happy to fight alongside them," he stated as Himitsu stepped back.

"What about you? Jack?" the Winter King smirked.

"Of course! Sora's a blast! Kairi's a lot like Yuki, and Riku reminds me of Bunnymund a bit," he said. Riku smiled.

"Thanks, I'm being compared to a rabbit." Jack shook his head.

"No, not just any rabbit, but the Easter Bunny! He's a Guardian, too," he said.

"So, there's other types of Guardians. Which one is he?" Riku looked him over, and Jack smiled.

"Bunny's the Guardian of Hope," Jack answered simply. Riku smiled and sighed.

"Well, then, I guess I don't mind being compared to a rabbit," he stated. The group laughed and took their time getting to know the two newcomers; while Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka energetically chatted with the two, Himitsu, Akira, and Tadashi watched and felt themselves at awe with their children: they were truly remarkable young adults.

 **{Upstairs: 10:45am...}**

Sora hummed a bit as the sun gleamed in through the window, and he opened his eyes in a bit of a bleary state. Normally, he would have felt fairly energetic, even with his wounds, but he currently could have been feeling a bit better. Sora was certain his headache and faint discomfort were from the nightmare that he still remembered, and he decided that he wanted to go back to sleep; however, that option was taken from him when he turned to look down and saw Kairi lying fast asleep next to him. Sighing, he smiled and reached out to brush her hair from her face, while the girl shifted a bit and then glanced up at him momentarily before she closed her eyes again. Sora waited, and then suddenly, Kairi was up and had her arms wrapped around him in a warm embrace.

"Sora, I'm so glad you're okay," she said as she placed her face against his chest. The girl gave him a tighter embrace, and he winced.

"Give me a break, Kairi, I just woke up." Aquamarine eyes looked up to him, and he smiled as he reached out to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Good morning, sleepy-head," Kairi stated as she settled herself right in front of him.

"Good morning to you, too." He momentarily eyed the girl as she gave him a quick glance.

Kairi wasn't the type of girl that wore nightgowns, clearly, because she was wearing a simple black tank top and a pair of pink-and-black plaid pajama pants. Her hair was mused and her eyes clear, despite having just woken up. Sora smiled as he watched her sit there and stretch momentarily as she started to get herself awake, and continued about getting herself awake before she turned to see him staring at her. The girl flushed faintly, and then wrapped her arms around herself.

"What are you staring at?" Sora smiled.

"Your hair's a mess." Kairi frowned.

"I just woke up...yours isn't any better," she said as she tried to brush her fingers through her hair to fix it. Sora smiled again and reached out before grabbing her hand.

The girl watched as he intertwined their fingers and pulled her close, before carding his fingers through her hair as she stared into his eyes. He seemed to be making progress, and that gave Kairi some hope that soon he'd be back to normal. Kairi smiled as he closed his eyes, and the girl sighed as she looked him over as he dropped his hand to her shoulder and slid it down her arm. Needless to say, it sent chill bumps across her skin, and made her shiver ever so slightly.

"You don't have to fix it, though..." she eyed him.

"Sora? What are you playing at now?" he laughed just a bit as he pressed his forehead to hers.

"You're perfect just like you are...Kairi...that's what I'm playing at," he said. The girl smiled.

"Well, you sure are a strange one. But I guess that's why I've always liked you so much...you were different from the other people I knew." Sora leaned back just a bit, and Kairi reached up to caress the side of his face.

"I just hope I'm never too different for you to still love me..." Kairi frowned.

"Sora, look at me," she said.

The girl placed her hands on both sides of his face and looked him directly in the eye, before smiling as she slid her hands down to his shoulders and then to his chest, where, with his tank top, she could still see the white gauze across his arms and shoulders. There was so much pain still there, and she could both see and feel it in how the slight touches made him flinch and where in some areas the white was stained pinkish-red. If Kairi had the power, she would have taken it all away from him so that he could be the way he was before the Dream Drop. Taking in a deep breath, Kairi slid her hands to his sides, feeling the thick bandages that were in random places upon his torso, and the area near his Mastery Mark.

"I'll never stop loving you. Silly, you went through hell and high water when you were thirteen years old and gave up your life for me to have my heart back. Sora, you've more than shown how much you love me...now let me be there for you and show you how much you mean to me. I'll always love you, Sora," she said. He sighed and reached up to cup her cheek.

"You're something else...but I guess I'd never have it any other way. So, thank you, Kairi." she smiled.

"Just shut up and kiss me," she said.

Sora didn't have to be told twice. Kairi felt herself being tilted back a bit, his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her close, as she felt soft lips being pressed to hers, and her hands being made to rest around his shoulders. Personally, Kairi had never expected to see a dominating side to Sora, but she knew he had that side to him, and when he kissed her, it was evident, but there were other times, too. When he was in battle, he was stronger and fiercer than others; when he was standing up for something he believed in, he stood there with all the tenacity of someone many years his age.

However, Kairi remembered the first time it had happened, and she would never forget that moment when Riku was about to let the Door of Darkness close on him and the King, and Sora cast the Silver Kingdom Key aside as if it was worthless and pulled the door open, before jerking Riku and the King through in a manner that seemed far too powerful for someone of his stature. Sora had then proceeded to yell and scream at Riku for ever even daring to try and leave them behind. She had been so shocked by his fury and his aggression then that she hadn't taken a chance to tell him that she loved him then and there.

The pure emotion he'd shown and his choice to stand strong with those he loved no matter what was something she admired in his changes and his strengths. Sora had changed, but who he'd become was someone who could protect and stand his ground – he'd changed from the little thirteen-year-old boy she'd met who was so remarkably sweet, shy, and a tad over-sensitive, to someone gentle, but forceful; compassionate, but unwavering in his choices, and above all else, he had become much more fiery in his personality. A faint nip was given to her bottom lip, and Kairi giggled a bit but complied before knotting her fingers in his hair as she moved forward just a bit, and the two of them toppled over before landing on the bed. Kairi sat up and laughed a bit as Sora did the same and looked to her with a warm glow in his eyes.

"We really need to stop tripping over things when this happens," he said with a laugh as he pulled her close and intertwined their fingers again.

"Yea, but, I guess that's just one of our little quirks." Sora shook his head.

"No, I think it's being closer but not knowing what to think about it," Kairi smiled as she moved to lay on her stomach, and looked at him as he was watching her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Thinking..." Kairi leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to his lips before deciding to be a bit bold about it. The reaction she received was Sora jolting a bit and reaching up to tangle his fingers in her hair. The girl sat back with a smirk and reached up to brush her thumb across his bottom lip before laughing once more.

"That was thinking?" he questioned. Kairi shook her head.

"Nope, that was me choosing." A fine eyebrow rose.

"What did you chose?" Sora asked as she laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

"That my heart can stay with you." he smiled.

"Oh, you're talking about that promise from before all this...on that day," he said. Kairi nodded.

"So, if you have my heart in yours and I have your heart in mine...we'll always be together...won't we?" Sora gave her a small smile, and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"If you keep my heart...we'll never be separated...I can stay with you...forever..." Kairi paused before smiling as she closed her eyes, while Sora wrapped his arm around her and they began to doze off again. For now, they were fine ignoring the rest of the world and the issues that came with it, because for right then, they were fine.

 **{….}**

 _Somebody shine a light; I'm frozen by the fear in me. Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Yep, there is some of the SoKai moments! There are more to come. Yes, by chapter 10 we will be saying goodbye to Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka, but there are more events to come. Also, I suppose now would be the time to tell you that you guys can guess who Yui actually is if you want to, and if you know but need confirmation, just reread his lines – the info is there, trust me.

So, in the next chapter we have some more magic, and Jack battling the brooms! And allow me to explain why Kairi paused when Sora said those words to her: In Chapter 4: The Day it All Began in Kingdom Hearts: Genesis, those words are Kairi's exact thoughts after Sora and her make the promise that was mentioned.

On another note, yes, Yuki and Jack are a thing – kinda obvious, if you look at Chapter 22 of _**Kingdom Hearts: Darker Dream Distance**_ ; that chapter discusses Jack and Yuki being in a relationship. Also, yes, Yuki is the Guardian of Promise, because no matter what, she values a promise above even written contracts. If you make a promise with her, she will keep it, and she is the embodiment of the meaning of what a promise is to a child.

See you next time!

Preview:

"Let me teach you a thing or two about winter magic."

"Damnable brooms!"

"Hey, do you think I could talk to the King?"

Chapter 9: Love Can Heal


	9. Chapter 9: Love Can Heal

Chapter 9: Love Can Heal

 **{Disney Castle: May 9th 2013, 8:24am}**

Sora and Kairi were walking around in the garden that morning, enjoying the early summer weather and the tranquil peace. It had been a rather wonderful day thus far; however, that ended when Sora caught the sound of what they both knew were brooms coming their way. Sky-blue and aquamarine eyes looked to the area behind them and were greeted with a hoard of the objects. Taking no time to wonder why the brooms were after them, Sora grabbed Kairi's hand and started running. The two of them began to race their way out of the castle gardens, and then they heard the hoard growing closer, and Kairi glanced behind them to see at least a hundred brooms coming after them. The girl gasped and started to run faster as Sora did the same as they made their way towards the castle. Both of them knew that if they got inside one of the rooms that they would have little trouble hiding until the cleaning equipment died down some.

 _"Damnable brooms!"_

However, as the two of them turned a corner that lead back into the castle, the brooms caught up and tried to block the entrance. Sky-blue eyes narrowed, and Sora gathered some of his magic up into his legs and around the soles of his shoes before he pulled Kairi up into his arms and jumped. The girl screamed in shock before closing her eyes tightly as Sora cut a flip and landed in a perfect crouch before taking off down the hall with his magic still in place. The duo came into the room, sliding with the use of Flowmotion magic across the floor and spinning across the pillars and towards the area that Sora knew the others would be – the main dining room.

Wasting no time, Sora sped up his magic and flew down the hallway at near top speed as Kairi smiled as she looked to the others, who were wide-eyed as Sora slid across the ground and came to a stop as the doors closed behind them. Sora sat Kairi down and winced faintly as the pain of his wounds reminded him that moving like he did wasn't the greatest of ideas. Himitsu momentarily considered standing, but found herself deciding against it as Kairi helped Sora to the table and the boy sat down with a faint sigh, while the girl looked them over in questioning.

"Why were the brooms after us?" a faint chill came into the room.

"Well, we heard you two weren't coming back until after breakfast, and decided we needed to see you," said a familiar voice. Sky-blue and aquamarine looked to the side to see two people.

"Jack! Yui!" Kairi stood and went to hug the two boys, who returned it and then looked to Sora, who smiled.

"Sorry for not standing, but the brooms kind of pushed me more than I was prepared for. My leg seems like it wants to give me issues still," he said. Yui waved shook his head.

"I get it, no problem. After we eat something, I'll take a look at your leg, okay?" Sora nodded.

"So, how's the training going?" questioned Jack as Kairi sat down and the two of them joined the group.

"They blew up the eastern courtyard three days ago." Jack looked to the others as Yui winced at the prospect.

"How many of you are learning fire and ice magic?" asked Yui as the others thought for a moment.

"Just two of us. Everyone else was either an air or earth base." Jack smirked as he looked to Kairi and Selphie.

"Let me teach you a thing or two about winter magic," he stated. Sora looked to the Winter King and smiled a bit.

"Really? Can we learn from Jack?" the sixteen-year-old Keyblade Master looked to the Guardian of Levity.

"Sure, why not. I think you guys will benefit from it – I might use mostly fire and ice magic, but I think that you two can gain more experience if Jack Frost of all people taught you," Sora said.

"I'd be happy to teach them. And it'll help you focus on the air and fire ones you're teaching." Jack looked to Sora, who nodded with a smile.

"Sounds like a plan to me," he stated.

Himitsu watched the interaction between the children, Jack, and Yui in curiosity. They seemed as if they had known each other for quite some time; however, there was something hiding still between them. Himitsu, Akira, and Tadashi had decided that they would confront the children about the situation from the most recent event, and that was purely because they didn't want Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka involved in this anymore than they already would be. Taking in a deep breath, Himitsu put a smile on her face as she thought about what would remain of the day, while Sora and Riku got back to training them and Jack took care of teaching Kairi and Selphie.

After breakfast, the adults joined the children for practice and began to make some progress in their element spells, and soon after, they began practicing cure and reflect. Those for some unknown reason came quite easy to the group – Selphie proved to be quite talented in Cure, and Wakka was quite profound with Reflect. Sora smiled as he checked on Kairi's practice as the girl cast a strong blizzard spell and froze a tree clean over in at least a foot-thick sheet of ice. He had to applaud her because the girl truly was good at what she was doing, and Jack definitely had helped; however, when it came to fire, his mother seemed to be having a bit of trouble, and while he was certain he could have taught her how to use a fire spell – his first spell – it was proving to be quite a predicament.

The moment Himitsu nearly set a piece of the forest on fire, Yui groaned and walked up to Sora and asked if he could try and give her some pointers on controlling fire magic, as it was temperamental and would never work the same for each person. Sora nodded, giving his mother an apologetic expression, as the black-haired teenager came to her and held his hand out with a swift motion that formed flames about his palm. Sora momentarily eyed the magic in confusion as Yui began to explain some details on fire magic – he wasn't aware that Yui could use fire magic like that, and found himself momentarily stunned as he watched the scene himself and took note to the details he was hearing.

"With fire magic, you have to put your energy into it more than other types. You need to focus on the differences between it and other types as well," Yui said.

"Like what, exactly?" Yui smiled.

"The heat, the way it feels, the movement; and you need to be forceful, yet gentle, and direct with how you use it. If you don't remain calm and focus the magic with a clear intent on where you want it to go, you could hurt someone by mistake..." Sora frowned as he heard that.

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience," he said.

"Yea...I lost control a few times on this...and I nearly cost someone I love their life." Himitsu frowned as she looked at the fire on the boy's grasp.

"But you can control it now?" she asked.

"Yea, but I have moments where I worry if I'll lose my focus and my control will break..." Sora smiled.

"I don't think it will! You're too strong and stubborn for that!" he stated with a smile. Yui laughed a bit.

"Alright, get back to teaching." Sora smirked as he walked back towards Akira and held his hand out as he let a wind spell circle around his arm and down to his palm. Sora knew the best way to teach the woman would be to show her the easiest way to focus a wind or air spell: by letting it cascade over the body.

"So, let's get started."

 **{Disney Castle Training Room: 2:24pm}**

After the lesson with the others, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Yui, and Jack had headed into the training hall to brush up on their skill set. The others had decided they wished to watch the group spar and put their magic to use. Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka would be returning to the Islands with Donald and Goofy escorting them, while Himitsu, Akira, and Tadashi would be remaining at the castle until the King and Master Yen Sid were certain that Sora, Riku, and Kairi were healed for the most part. As of right then, Kairi was sparring with Jack, who was teaching her a few tricks and how to apply her magic, if needs be; while Sora, Riku, and Yui were sparring with one another. Yui's black and green sword held up surprisingly well against the Keyblades, and while Kairi was thankful for their presence, she did wonder about Yui's weaponry – it was fairly strange, but it was also something she had seen before. A katana wasn't that uncommon on the Islands, especially with people who came from different areas or cultural backgrounds; however, Yui's seemed different than the ones she'd seen before, and that got her thinking.

"Hey, Jack? Where did Yui come from?" Kairi asked as she posed her Keyblade to move in the way he instructed.

"His world is called Owari; it's a pretty bleak world most of the time – but since the Anteiku Unit was formed, they've been making headway in recovering it from the rubble. In his world, vampires ruled for a long time and took out most of the world's population...however, Yui and his group with the others have been able to take down most of the vampires since then." Kairi looked to the black-haired boy and then to Sora, who blocked his attack.

"That sounds like a pretty horrible world to live in," she stated. Jack smiled as he looked to her.

"Actually, it's got some very beautiful things in it still. In their world, angels walk among humans, and so do demons and ghouls." Kairi looked to him in confusion.

"How is that beautiful? It sounds so dark," she said. Jack placed a hand on her shoulder and laughed.

"Kairi, even the darkest worlds can have beauty to them. Trust me, I've seen the evil and the good in all sorts of people and worlds. I'm a Guardian, but I'm also a Reaper of Dark Spirits – because of that, I have to have a discerning eye for the light in the dark." Kairi and smiled as she looked to the others, as Yui was blocked by Riku as Sora knocked his legs out from under him. Yui cartwheeled away and put his sword to his side.

"Okay...thanks, Jack." He twirled his staff in his hand and then looked to the others that were watching the sparring match between Sora, Riku, and Yui.

"No problem; now, how about we get back to work before..." there was a crash and everyone froze.

"What was that?" Sora looked outside of the window near them and saw dark clouds rolling in.

"It's a storm...looks like a bad one, too," he said.

"Okay, so, what should we do?" Sora looked to Yui, who tensed faintly and the group looked back to him.

"You okay, Yui?" the boy nodded a bit stiffly.

"I'm not fond of storms – rain, I don't mind, but a storm like that? Not overly fond of it," he explained.

"Oh, that's okay. But, Yui? Do you want to stop for today?" the black-haired youth nodded.

"Yea...I think I'm done for now," he stated.

"Alright, go on...you look a bit pale." Yui nodded and walked away after sheathing his sword, while the others let him pass as he gave them a quick look before leaving.

"Is going to be okay?" asked Selphie.

"He'll be fine...it's because of what he is that storms with high energy can kinda upset his own energy." Akira knotted her eyebrows together.

"What is he?" she inquired. Jack looked to the others with a sigh.

"He's a Seraphim hybrid." Tidus stared onward at him in questioning.

"So...wait..." Selphie looked to Jack with a smile.

"He's an angel?!" she inquired.

" _Kinda_ ; he's partly angel, and he has some other things in him...his bloodline is confusing, but it's mostly Seraphim." Sora frowned in thought.

"He had wings when we were fighting the Organization..." the group looked a bit surprised by the statement.

"I would love to see that," Selphie said. Kairi smiled as she looked to her friend.

"They're beautiful...but...are you guys going to stop sparring or keep going?" she looked to Sora and Riku as they thought for a moment.

"Sora, you need to practice with the telekinesis so you can get control on it," Riku stated. Sora hung his head a bit as he submitted to that fact.

"Alright..."

Riku, Kairi, and Jack stepped back and came to stand a bit ahead of the others as Sora focused himself in a bit and tried to get a mental image in place. Taking in a steady breath, Sora summoned one of his Keyblades and settled it into his hand firmly before summoning another. The two in his grasp were Three Wishes and Wishing Lamp, the two Keyblades he'd begun to learn dual wielding with. Sora looked at the two of them in faint concern as he looked to Three Wishes and prepared himself for a pass or fail on his next attempt to control his Keyblades this way. The others waited as Sora let go of Three Wishes, and it floated in front of him as he put his entire focus on the Keyblade before flicking his wrist just a bit to make it turn and flip. The others held their breath as Sora repeated the action, and soon had the Keyblade turning in a clockwise manner.

"You got it!" Kairi said in relief.

"I'm still feeling some resistance, but nothing like before." Riku smirked.

"You're getting the hang of it, at least," he stated as Sora raised the Keyblade up and then flipped it, before holding it in front of him again.

"Yea, but it'll be a long time before I can adapt this for combative purposes." To that, the adults looked concerned.

"You're going to adapt that to use in a fight?" asked Himitsu. Sora looked to her and grasped the Keyblade again as he held them at his sides.

"Of course I am. Everything I practice using will be adapted for combat." The woman looked quite surprised by his bluntness, and the group looked shocked.

"Sora..." the chestnut-haired teen shrugged, keeping both his Keyblades aloft in his grasp.

"We're Keyblade Wielders, and besides, I've dealt with worse...I mean...I was thrown down a flight of stairs, got into a fight with a man who used a bladed gun, got thrown off several buildings, and got rammed into a wall with a Large Body Heartless," he stated.

"And when did all this take place?" Sora vanished his Keyblades and took in a deep breath.

"Well, the Heartless pushed me down the stone staircase in Traverse Town's Second District, it was our friend Leon who beat me over the head with the gunblade, I was thrown off a building in Traverse Town as well during the fight that lead me to Donald and Goofy, and the Large Body...that was in Agrabah...it knocked me into the wall with its fist." Himitsu narrowed her eyes.

"And how much of the injuries you received on that first adventure were on Donald and Goofy's account?" she inquired.

"Um...well...they didn't find me until after I had been pushed off the building...and the others were during fights where we got split up...or...Donald forgot to use a cure spell...because he was knocked unconscious..." Himitsu stood.

"Hey, do you think I could talk to the King?" Sora looked to Riku and Kairi.

"Oh boy..."

 **{Twenty Minutes Later...}**

"DONALD DUCK AND GOOFY GOOF!"

The Keyblade Wielders flinched as they heard King Mickey's raised voice. They currently were settled in the King's study and were listening to not only Himitsu lay into the two people, but the King as well. The group standing off to the side were wide-eyed and unsure of what to say on the matter, as Sora kept his eyes shut and his head tilted away as the Court Magician and the Captain of the Knights were being yelled at by the two people.

"How could you do something so foolish?" asked the King.

"We're sorry...we just thought that Pluto was..." the King narrowed his eyes.

"You left not only a Keyblade Wielder alone, but A _THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD CHILD!_ HOW IS THAT JUST A _SIMPLE_ MISTAKE?!" The group flinched back as the King crossed his arms over his chest and kept a sharp glare upon their forms.

"What I want to know is why did you not think of following a dog that was sniffing his way down an alley?" asked Himitsu.

"Honestly, we didn't know, and..." King Mickey narrowed his eyes.

"Sora could have gotten seriously hurt! Or worse! You should count yourselves lucky that he ran into Leon and the others when he did," the King stated.

"We're sorry, but he's fine now, and..." Himitsu glared as she looked at the sight of the two.

"Sora was pushed down a stone staircase, thrown off buildings, and attacked by the same man who later helped him! So let me make something clear..." Himitsu walked up to the two and set a cold glare upon them.

"Yes?"

"If you ever leave Sora, Riku, Kairi, or any of their allies alone in that state again...I will find you, and you will be dealt with. Am I clear?" the two nodded.

"Yes, ma'am!" Himitsu smiled.

"Good; now, how about something for a late lunch? We all look a bit famished," she said as she walked away. Everyone watched her leave, and Donald looked to Sora.

"Your mother is scary..." Sora nodded.

"Yea...she can be..." Goofy looked to him.

"Gwarsh, Sora, I see where you get that persuasive personality from," he stated. Sora looked to him.

"Uh...yea...that's definitely something I got from my mom..." he brushed his hand over his face. King Mickey looked him over.

"Seems to be the only thing, Sora," he said. Sky-blue eyes looked to him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the King smiled as he stepped down from the chair, and started walking towards the door as he waved his hand for the others to follow.

"I just have a feeling you take after your father," he told him before leaving. Sora gave a heavy sigh at that.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

 _"If only I could tell you...Sora..."_

 **{…..}**

 _So cut me from the line, dizzy, spinning endlessly. Somebody make me feel alive, and shatter me..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Well, that's chapter 9! Next chapter, we say goodbye to Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka, and we get a visit from Master Yen Sid. We're not done with insanity yet, though! We have much more fun to still be had. Not only are we getting towards some interesting events, but we're also going to see some wonderful moments between the kids and their parents!

Preview:

"You remind me of someone I once knew..."

"You were the little brat who threw that star-shaped fruit at me!"

"Thanks,"

Chapter 10: Pieces


	10. Chapter 10: Pieces

Chapter 10: Pieces

 **{Disney Castle: May 10th 2013, 8:56am}**

Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka were settled at a table, waiting for the time that Donald and Goofy would take them home. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Himitsu, Akira, Tadashi, King Mickey, and Queen Minnie were present for breakfast with them that morning, and enjoy the time they had left with their friends. Selphie was quiet as she ate, and Tidus remained the same, while Wakka engaged in conversation with the King. Sora looked to the two people and sighed as he sat down his fork and decided that the silence had persisted long enough.

"Alright, what's with the sudden vow of silence?" he asked.

"What? We're just...thinking about how weird it's going to be not seeing you guys every day." Sora gave the two a look that stated he didn't buy their statement one bit.

"Don't give us that look! We're going to miss you guys," stated Selphie.

"Uhuh, well, if you don't want to tell us anything about it, then I guess we can't give you what Master Yen Sid is here to deliver..." the two perked up as Wakka turned his attention towards the others.

"What's going on? Who's Master Yen Sid?" the red-haired teenager asked.

"Master Yen Sid is the overseer for all Keyblade Wielders in the worlds. And he was King Mickey's Master as well." there was a faint sound of footsteps, and all eyes looked to the entry way that lead into the sun room.

"Hey? Sora? Master Yen Sid is here," stated Yui as he took his seat and Jack soon landed behind him.

"Okay, I'll go and bring him here." With that, Sora took off from the room and the others looked after him.

"Is Sora feeling better?" asked Tidus.

"Yea, he's still a little sleepy, but his energy is starting to get back up to his normal level."

"Is there anything we should know about Master Yen Sid?" questioned Tadashi.

"He will be fairly formal, but please address him as Master Yen Sid. He is the Grand Master of Keyblades and Magic." the others seemed momentarily surprised.

"Well then, we'll have respect for him and make sure that we're on our best behavior," said Himitsu as she looked to the King.

"Of course, Sora will be back with Master Yen Sid any moment now." The others remained in conversation, while within the castle, Sora had just reached the hall where Master Yen Sid was waiting.

 **{Main Atrium: 9:02am}**

The aged Wizard looked to the direction of the sound of footsteps as he saw Sora coming down the hallway. The boy was dressed rather casually, wearing some of the clothing that the Three Good Fairies had made for him, but he lacked his gloves and his jacket. Master Yen Sid smiled as Sora came to a stop directly in front of him with a bright, but faintly tired smile upon his face as he looked to him, while the former Keyblade Master looked at the teenager with some relief evident in his eyes – at least he was recovering.

"Master Yen Sid, it's good to see you." the boy took in a deep breath and turned his sky-blue eyes on the man.

"As it is you, Master Sora," he replied. The boy flushed.

"Um...you don't have to call me that, Master Yen Sid." the wizard shook his head.

"It's respectful. However, seeing as you have still not told your mother of your status change...I will just call you Sora in her and the others presences," he said. The boy sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid. I honestly don't think we're ready to tell them everything yet..." the wizard placed a hand upon Sora's shoulder.

"You cannot hide it forever, Sora. At some point you will have to divulge the truth to them. Nonetheless, I understand why you and Riku have chosen to not speak about it...there are still many wounds that apparently need healing," Master Yen Sid stated as he looked to the boy.

"I know...but still..." the wizard smiled.

"Sora, I hope you don't mind me saying, but...you often remind me of someone I once knew..." Sora looked back to him as he began to head down the hallway, and he fell into step beside him.

"Who?" the wizard smiled.

"Oh, a student of mine. He was quite an interesting person...full of spirit, quite intelligent, talented with a Keyblade, much like yourself, and if I do say so, he was quite the _troublemaker_ ," he told him while continued to walk.

"I'm not exactly a troublemaker..." Master Yen Sid smiled.

"And yet, I have heard stories of your quite colorful banters with Master Riku," he said. Sora winced.

"Yea...we've always done that...even when I was a lot more...um..." Sora scratched the back of his head.

"Introverted?" he inquired.

"Yes...I was really quiet growing up except around those I trusted...that hasn't exactly changed..." Master Yen Sid looked him over and then smiled.

"He was the same way...but it is good to see you are healing nicely," the wizard mentioned.

"I'm recovering, but...I still have these really horrible nightmares...and I don't know what they're about..." Master Yen Sid looked to the boy and frowned as Sora kept his eyes forward.

 _"He looks exactly like he did at this age...my word...he could be his twin..."_

Master Yen Sid could never quite get over how much Sora favored this person he knew. From his facial features and body structure to his hair, eyes, smile, gestures, and even his personality and voice were similar to the person he was thinking of. However, he should have expected nothing less because he knew who the boy's father was, and if the way he had grown to favor him was anything to go by, then he didn't need to question what was causing him to remember his friend. Taking in a deep breath, he looked to Sora with a calm smile and caught the boy's attention.

"Sora, are you going to be alright?" the boy looked down.

"Master Yen Sid, I don't remember what I did to all of you in the Dream Drop...but I know I did something...really bad..." Sora shifted his eyes to the side and the wizard frowned faintly.

"What do you remember?" he questioned.

"Hardly a thing. But I do recall a bit...just brief _flashes,_ and what I see..." the boy covered his face with his hands to the point that his eyes were completely blocked from view.

"Sora?" the boy took in a shaky breath.

"It scares me... _what I did_..." the wizard placed a gentle hand upon the boy's hands and slowly removed them from his grasp, while looking into the boy's tired face and weary eyes.

"Sora, you have _nothing to fear_. What was done to you was at the hands of an evil person and an organization of cruel people...you have allies who have forgiven you for what's been done...I'm sorry that these things have happened to you and the others...but rest assured, whatever comes after this...it's for the best, and I know you and the others can and _will_ defeat the obstacles...no matter how great," he stated.

Master Yen Sid pulled the boy into a gentle embrace as Sora felt his eyes grow momentarily wide at the thought of what he was experiencing. Interestingly enough, the wizard never exactly scared him so much as he did garner his respect. Master Yen Sid may have been frightening to others, but nothing scared Sora about the man – he felt as if he was an old friend that he hadn't seen in many years. Stepping back, he looked at the wizard and gave him a calm smile before waving for him to follow with a soft spoken thank you that the Wizard merely smiled about.

 _"Sora has his kind heart as well...he's definitely his father's son."_

 **{Sun Room: 9:20am}**

The group was having a rather calm conversation with one another when Sora arrived back with Master Yen Sid. Most in the room almost stood, but were waved down by the aged wizard as he looked at the people settled at the table. Sora remained standing where he was while the wizard looked at the six new faces that were present, and also spotted two familiar ones. King Mickey got up from his seat and stood before his former Master with a welcome, as the wizard nodded and went to take his own seat before the King returned to his chair and Sora followed him.

"This is Master Yen Sid, he's the Grand Master for Keyblade Wielders and Magicians in the worlds," King Mickey explained. The others momentarily froze, and the wizard smiled.

"It is a pleasure to meet the six of you. I suppose that this is quite a surprise?" they nodded slowly as he took his seat and Sora settled back in his own.

"Yes, it is a bit surprising..." stated Akira as she looked him over.

"No need to be tense. I understand that you aren't used to being around all of these things, and I do not expect you to know everything to a finite detail." they relaxed a bit.

"So...you were the King's teacher?" questioned Tadashi.

"Yes, I was, many years ago. However, in the current times, I have begun acting as overseer to other Keyblade Wielders, while Mickey has taken to keeping an eye on those three." Master Yen Sid looked to Sora, Riku, and Kairi, who gave him a quick smile.

"Do they cause you trouble?" asked Himitsu.

"Well, I don't know about trouble so much as they tend to _attract_ it." the group looked at the three teenagers.

 _"He has a point there...we tend to end up attracting all sorts of crazy things..."_ Riku looked to Sora.

"And you're a magnet for ending up in the wrong worlds or attracting the _worst kind_ of trouble," he said. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Correct me if I'm wrong...Riku...but you were in the same _predicament_ that I was in, not too long ago..." the silver-haired teen nodded slowly.

"Unfortunately, you got me there..." Master Yen Sid looked at the two boys.

"And yet, you are both still here all because of your comrades," he stated. Sora smiled a bit.

"Yea, and who would have thought we'd end up with Jack Frost on our side, too..." the Winter King looked him over with a smirk.

"It's good to see that there are people here that have so much faith in others. And, it's good to see that no one wanted to throw things at me just because I surprised them," he said. Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we were in the middle of a fight...so..." Jack looked at the others.

"I know, but I remember, about eleven years ago, there was this kid I met, and he hit me in the head with a fruit because I landed near him and didn't realize it," he said. Sora frowned a bit.

"He hit you in the head _with a fruit?_ " Jack nodded as he looked to Yui, who was listening to the conversation with curiosity.

"Yea, and then he got really defensive about where I was and started asking me all these questions...and when I started towards him, he panicked and hid behind a bunch of rocks." Sora shifted and then looked to the winter spirit.

"Um...just out of curiosity...what kind of fruit was this?" he questioned.

"It was this weird star-shaped fruit that was yellow and had these two green leaves at the top." The chestnut-haired teenager frowned as Himitsu laughed a bit.

"Oh, I just remembered something about Sora when he was younger, Jack," Himitsu stated. The group looked to her.

"What was that?" Sora rolled his eyes.

"He read a lot about you when he was younger, because you were his favorite myth. When he was six, he even swore up and down that he met you one day, and that you came back one evening to see him as well," he said. Jack thought for a moment.

"Hey, Sora? Was your hair always the color it is now?" Riku laughed a bit.

"No, he used to have a chocolate color to his hair," he stated. Then the Winter King thought back at that moment in time.

 _"What the...who threw that?" azure met a paler shade of blue._

 _"Who are you? What are you doing here?"_

 _"Hey, whoa...I'm not really doing anything. I just got lost!"_

 _"But...you fell out of the sky..."_

 _"Okay kid, who are you?" the little boy ran behind a set of rocks. And Jack smiled._

 _"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers..." the boy peaked out behind the rock._

 _"Alright, I'm Jack Frost...what's your name?"_

Jack suddenly sat bolt upright and looked to the chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old as he felt realization dawn upon him. The others looked slightly confused at the startled look upon the Winter King's face as he kept his eyes upon Sora, who gave him an equally confused look that reminded Kairi once more of a puppy. Yui rolled his eyes as he tapped Jack on the shoulder, which sent Alice-blue eyes looking to emerald green as the black-haired youth looked towards the others.

"Did you have some sort of epiphany you wish to share?" Yui asked.

"It was _you!_ " Jack pointed to Sora, who raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" the teenager watched Jack smile brightly.

"You were _the little brat_ who threw that star-shaped fruit at me! You even told me what it was! A paopu fruit!" said Jack as Sora looked at him in questioning.

"I don't really...wait...did you used to wear a navy-colored tunic?" the Winter King nodded.

"Yea! That's right!" Jack stated.

"Wait...so...you've met Sora before?" the Winter King nodded.

"I met him when he was six on the Islands! I remember now! You were really shy as a little kid, and I remember coming back the second time...because..." Jack paused and the others looked to him.

"What's wrong?" asked Akira.

"Because someone you were really close to was sick, and he wanted to meet me, too..." the others looked greatly confused by the statement.

"I don't remember that at all, " Sora said.

"No, I remember him. He had dark hair and blue eyes." Himitsu shook her head.

"Jack, Sora only had a few friends when he was that young. Riku, Kairi, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka were the only ones he was friends with, besides Mina, and she passed away," she stated. Jack frowned.

"I could have sworn...I met him, too...I remember him really well..." Yui looked him over.

"Maybe it was a kid that was there briefly? I mean, it's been eleven years..." Jack sighed.

"I don't know...maybe..." Sora laughed a bit.

"Well, either way...I guess I should apologize for throwing a paopu fruit at you...those things hurt when you get hit by them," he stated.

"I've had harder hits than that, but for a six-year-old, you had really good aim." Riku frowned.

"And unfortunately...that _hasn't_ changed at all...I'd even say it's improved," he stated. Sora gave him an annoyed expression.

"You might want to be thankful that my aim is so good! It's saved your ass plenty of times." Riku elbowed him in the side and Himitsu frowned.

"Sora!"

"I know...language..." Master Yen Sid smiled.

"Once you've all finished, I have something to give our six guests," he stated.

"Alright, then." Sora glanced to the six people as he considered what to do.

Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka were leaving soon after breakfast. Their things were packed, they had nothing left to do except receive the items Master Yen Sid had created for them. Sora had been contemplating whether or not to tell them what had exactly happened during their little _world-hopping adventure_ – as they called it, at least – and allow them to understand why they were so damaged from this and why it hurt so much to even think back upon it. Naturally, Sora knew that Riku and Kairi had to make that choice on their own, but if they were willing to explain these details with him, then maybe they could let them know the truth finally.

 _"It'd be a lot less pressure on us while we're trying to recover..."_

 **{Departure: 10:35am}**

Sora, Riku, Kairi, King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Daisy, Pluto, Himitsu, Tadashi, Akira, Jack, Yui, and Master Yen Sid were present with Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka as they prepared to leave the castle. Donald and Goofy were finishing up with getting the Gummi ship ready and were awaiting the all clear to leave; however, they weren't merely talking, they were saying their goodbyes and were about to receive something from Master Yen Sid, who now stood a bit aways away from the group, watching them until at last, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka stepped back. The wizard took this as an opportunity to give the three teenagers what he had prepared for them, and had stepped forward with three small dark blue satin pouches that bore golden moons and stars upon them. The three teenagers looked to him, and slowly reached out to take the pouches with a sense of hesitancy.

"No need to be skittish, these are for you, and I have one each for you as well, Himitsu, Akira, and Tadashi," Master Yen Sid stated.

"Oh, alright then..." Tidus took the pouch as Selphie opened hers, and looked to the item that fell out.

It was a leather cord of black that held two charms at the end of it. One was an ornate crescent moon in gold bearing intricate patterns that almost looked like weaving runes, and the other was a silver pendant that looked as if it was a castle with a mouse shape cut into the doors on the front. Selphie smiled as she slipped it on over her head, and the two boys followed suit as Master Yen Sid handed the pouches off to the three adults as well. The group looked at the charms as they placed them on, and then looked back to the wizard.

"Sora and Riku may have taught you magic so you could have a base understanding of it, and you seem to have gotten a basic handle upon the spells they taught you; however, these are for the chance that you will not have time to fight the things that may come for you," Master Yen Sid explained.

"Um...what are they exactly?" the wizard took in a steadying breath as he looked them over.

"These are portals, and they are linked directly to two destinations that are possibly one of the safest places for you to be," he stated.

"Alright, but..." Sora looked at them, and then Riku sighed just a bit.

"The two charms represent the Mysterious Tower and Disney Castle. If you need to escape, just think of one of those two locations, and you will be taken there instantly...that's about right, isn't it?" asked Riku as he finished. Master Yen Sid nodded.

"Yes, in essence, if you need to escape, just think of the name of those two places – either one will do – and it will send you there. If you get separated, you will end up in either two places, and I have set this up to where it cannot be tampered with, so you will not end up in another world that is not safe."

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid," stated Selphie.

"No need in thanking me, I only wish to help protect what the Keyblade bearers hold dear to them." Tidus looked at the two charms, and then looked to the wizard.

"What's that?" he questioned. Sora groaned a bit and stepped forward before he knocked Tidus atop the head with his closed fist.

"You aren't the sharpest arrow in the quiver, are you?" the blonde rubbed the sore spot on his head.

"Ouch! You didn't have to hit me!" Riku laughed a bit.

"Tidus, the thing we hold dearest is our friends and family," Riku stated as Kairi nodded.

"Oh..." Selphie smiled to them and gave them all a hug once more.

"I'll keep it on me constantly, just in case," she said as she stepped back.

"That'd be a good idea. Keep it close to you guys at all times, just in case." the three teenagers nodded.

"We will," Wakka assured them as Donald and Goofy walked forward.

"Y'all ready to get goin'?" asked Goofy.

"Yep, we're ready." Donald nodded.

"Good, come on then. We'll see you all later," Donald stated as he started towards the Gummi ship.

"Hey, guys?" the three of them looked back to the Keyblade Wielders.

"Yea?" Sora gave them a bright smile.

"Thanks," he said. Tidus nodded.

"No problem; we'll see you guys around!" With that, the three teenagers boarded the Gummi Ship and began to leave.

"So...I guess we should get going, too..." the group looked to Yui and Jack.

"What? You guys are going to leave?" asked Kairi.

"Yea, we only came to check up on you guys for a few days. Noa needs me back because we're about to get under way with dealing with some of the vampires back in my world," Yui explained. The others nodded to the statement and then looked to the Winter King.

"Okay, but what about you, Jack?" the Guardian of Levity glanced to the side.

"Well, it's almost winter in Burgess...and I kinda promised Yuki that I'd take her out with me this year...and I have issues I have to deal with pertaining to a few annoying Red Caps," he stated as his eyes turned timber-wolf-silver.

"Alright then...I guess we'll see you two later on, then?" Yui nodded as Jack smiled.

"Of course, we're in this with you guys, and so is the Anteiku Unit," Yui stated.

"Thanks...that's going to come in handy, I'm sure..." the black-haired teen nodded.

"Definitely, and I'm sure Jack has some allies on the fence as well," he said. Jack grinned in a cheeky manner that caused Riku to roll his eyes.

 _"I'm surrounded by trolls..."_

"Yep! The Guardians and my Lieutenants are on the wayside, just in case you need assistance. Naturally, myself and Yuki are as well," Jack informed them as they looked to him.

"That's good to know. Alright then, we'll see you soon, I'm sure." the two nodded as Yui pulled out a charm on a black leather cord that was a black angel wing before a portal made of black and green fire appeared, and he left through it with a final wave.

"And that's my cue as well. See you three later," Jack said as pulled out a white leather cord that bore a medium-sized silver snowflake with a globe behind it before vanishing through a white and blue portal. The group soon found themselves left alone with the former Keyblade Master, King Mickey, Queen Minnie, and Daisy.

"Now, show me how you've improved upon your skill set since I last saw you," Master Yen Sid stated with a smile. The three Keyblade Wielders returned it with a bright look in their eyes.

"Okay, follow us!"

The three adults followed the children as Queen Minnie and Daisy excused themselves. while King Mickey and Master Yen Sid also trailed behind them, while the three adults had to wonder what would happen now that some of their group had left; little did they realize how much of their children's lives they would get to see before they left.

 **{….}**

 _If I break the glass, then I'll have to fly; there's no one to catch me if I take a dive..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: So, Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, Jack, and Yui are gone back to the Destiny Islands, Burgess, and Owari, and there are more things to come. In the next chapter, Himitsu is going to be finding out something very interesting about her son, and we get some alone time with the kids and their parents!

Preview:

"Sora, what happened to you?"

"Um...can I ask you a question? Your Majesty?"

Chapter 11: Ilys


	11. Chapter 11: Ilys

Chapter 11: Ilys

 **{Disney Castle: May 12th 2013, 8:02am}**

It was a fairly cold morning when Himitsu had woken up. It had been raining since yesterday, and now it was remarkably chilly, and had caused the brooms to light the fireplaces to keep the castle warm. She shivered a bit as she grabbed her long-sleeved shirt and put her shoes on for the day. Once she had finished getting dressed, Himitsu slipped on her two necklaces and decided to check up on Sora this morning. The three adults had made personal plans that day to spend time with their children separately so that they would take a break from training and dealing with the insanity of their lives. Himitsu had chosen to take Sora somewhere in town, Akira was taking Riku on a hike in the forest, and Tadashi was spending the day with Kairi in town on another side as well. The three of them had chosen to do this once the others had left, but as Himitsu started towards Sora's room, she worried that the boy might not take kindly to the idea of being forced out of a routine he had settled himself into.

Sighing, Himitsu grabbed the doorknob and had momentarily paused before taking in a deep breath as she opened the door and looked up. Sora was standing there with wide eyes, staring back at her as he held gauze in his hands. Wrapped around his right upper arm was a set of freshly changed gauze, there was more of it on his wrist, a thick bandage was rested on his right side, and large bruises covered his torso, shoulders, and back. Scratches, cuts, and faint burns were visible, with a few scars and injuries that she had never seen before. Himitsu's hand dropped to her side from the doorknob, and she felt fear lace its way through her system as she stepped forward and the door clicked shut behind her. Sora quickly turned his back to her, showing more injures and scrapes that were in odd places along his arms and shoulders.

"Sora..." the boy tensed.

"I'm fine..." Himitsu took in a deep breath as she stepped forward and stood behind her son.

"Sora, what happened to you?" she asked. Again, he tensed as he tried his hardest not to look at her.

"Mom, it's nothing...I promise." Himitsu narrowed her eyes and grabbed his uninjured arm before turning the boy as she looked him over.

"Nothing? Sora! You're _covered in wounds_ , still! How did I not see all of these when..." the boy looked down, and did his best to keep himself from looking into her eyes.

"I didn't want you to see all of this...and then get worried about something that's perfectly fine," he stated.

"Nothing about this is fine! You're covered in cuts and burns! And where did these scars come from?" Sora moved away from her, tensed, keeping his eyes downward as if looking her in the eye would force him to tell her the truth.

"I've been in a lot of fights, and I've dealt with a lot of injuries..." Himitsu caught sight of a small, circular, spiderweb-like wound, and felt her jaw lock at the sight of something she knew was unmistakable as anything else.

"When were you shot?" she questioned. The boy flinched.

"I went to a world and got into a fight with someone who had a gun...he shot me and I froze it over so I wouldn't bleed too badly, and then Donald got the bullet out...it was almost two years ago...so..." Himitsu looked to her son with horror upon her features.

She couldn't believe that he'd kept this from her, and it broke her heart that he felt that he didn't need to worry her about his wounds. Sora honestly looked as if he had been brutalized to the point that he should have died, and while his wounds were recovering and nothing like what they could have been earlier on, they were still quite horrible. Himitsu stepped forward and reached out to the boy before placing her hand upon his cheek, which caused him to look to her. Sky-blue eyes stared into hers, and she felt herself take in a steadying breath before sighing.

"Let me help you," she said. Sora nodded slowly as he let her lead him over to the bed, where he sat down.

"I'm sorry..." Himitsu shook her head.

"Sora, just tell me when this happens, and...please...don't hide this from me..." she stated as he looked to her from under his bangs slightly.

"I just don't want to worry you...this isn't something a mother should have to see..." Himitsu smiled as she brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"It's a mother's job to worry. Now, tell me about this one," she said as she looked at the small scrape at his right ribs.

"Oh, a Shadow Heartless...just nicked me when I wasn't looking..." she nodded and looked to the other ones.

"What about this one here?" she looked to the one at his upper arm.

"It was a Large Body Heartless." And then, Himitsu's eyes landed upon the faint burst-looking scar on his chest over his heart.

"And what happened with this one?" she questioned. Sora looked down again and took in a shaky breath.

"This is...kind of hard to talk about...because we..." Himitsu looked to him in concern.

"Sora? Is there something else you aren't telling me?" she asked him. He nodded faintly, and she looked down.

"I'm sorry...I should tell you the truth about what me and Riku were doing when this happened to us..." Himitsu felt her eyes grow momentarily wide.

"You lied to us? Why?" she inquired.

"Because this...the things we've had to deal with and do were...really bad...and I didn't want you to know how dangerous our lives are." Himitsu stood slowly, and Sora did the same before grabbing his shirt off the bed.

"I want the truth, Sora," she stated. He shifted a bit, and as he did, she got a full view of his torso and a mark near his hip.

"If Riku and Kairi can talk about it with me, then..." Himitsu looked to him with discomfort apparent in her eyes.

"They've been hiding this from us, too?" she asked. Sora nodded.

"They decided to not say anything until all of us were ready...I guess we'll have to talk about it now..." she sighed.

"Yes, and I want the full truth about this," she stated. Sora glanced up at her from his bangs.

"We won't withhold anything else from you guys...I promise." Himitsu eyed the mark on his side again and frowned.

"I also want answers about that tattoo, as well," she said sternly. He gave her a stiff nod before sliding his shirt on and walked towards the door.

"I'll go and get Kairi and Riku..." with that, he walked out of the room and Himitsu felt tears well up in her eyes.

 _"No! Don't you dare cry, Himitsu! You promised you'd be strong for him!"_

 **{Sun Room: 8:56am}**

Donald and Goofy were present in the sun room with the three adults and the three Keyblade Wielders. They were concerned about what was developing right then, with the three teenagers having to come clean about what had happened during the Dream Drop, and while they knew it would happen eventually, they had all honestly hoped that it would be when the three of them were more prepared than they were right then; however, time waited for none, and the time had come for the trio to confess to what they had been hiding up until now. Himitsu kept her arms crossed over her chest, while Akira gave her son a stern look and Tadashi kept an irritated eye upon his daughter – without question, this was going to become quite ugly.

"I can't _believe_ the three of you lied to us!" stated Akira sharply.

"We did it because we weren't ready to talk to you about it!" Sora glanced down while Tadashi set a chilled expression upon them.

"Well, the time for lies is over – tell us what you've been hiding, now!" he snapped.

Sora swallowed a bit thickly, as did Riku, while Kairi looked down. Honestly, they still weren't ready to talk about this; nonetheless, they didn't have the option to avoid the topic any longer, and now they had to gather up their courage and swallow their fear while trying to figure out how to explain this to them as simplistically as possible. Riku glanced to Sora, who gave him a small nod, and Kairi, who remained where she sat next to the two boys and did her best to not bring up anything she'd eaten. Donald looked at the three teenagers in their state of being: pale, nauseated in expression, and broken out in a cold sweat while they braced themselves to talk about something that they weren't emotionally and mentally prepared for, and could only hope that they could be prepared enough to not have a nervous breakdown in the midst of it all.

"We weren't world-hopping for Master Yen Sid," Riku stated. The three adults looked shocked by the statement.

"Then what were you doing?" Kairi took in a shaky breath as Sora glanced down, a small shiver lacing up his spine.

"We were taking an exam..." Akira raised an eyebrow.

"An exam?" she questioned. The two teenagers nodded.

"We were asked on March thirty-first to take the Keyblade Mark of Mastery Exam, beginning on April first...we agreed and began taking the examination...we started in Traverse Town, then the Land of Dragons, Prankster's Paradise, and then it was supposed to be Wonderland...but...we ended up somewhere else." Sora glanced up to them.

"We ended up in The World That Never Was and we were attacked behind enemy lines...Xigbar attacked us, and we were..." Riku resisted the urge to be sick.

"We were being pinned down, and we got help from the people we mentioned, but we still ended up getting roughed up badly, and..." Kairi clapped her hand over her mouth and Sora turned his attention towards her.

"Kairi?" the girl shook her head.

"Are you okay?" asked Himitsu. The girl stood, lock-jawed, and she fled from the room as swiftly as possible.

"What was that about?" Riku took in a shaky breath.

"Kairi's still not able to deal with it as easily as some of us...even I'm not doing as well as I'd like to be...it makes me sick just thinking about it," he answered.

"We need to know what happened..." Sora took in a deep breath.

"We were attacked by Organization Thirteen, and the leader Xemnas kidnapped me..." he shot the words out as if it was too painful to say it slower, while Riku swallowed once again.

"What...did you say?" asked Akira.

"Sora was taken away from us in the middle of the fight...the Organization's leader...Xemnas...he did that with one intention, and that was to disable Sora, who is the biggest threat to his Master, Xehanort Erebus." Tadashi looked to the two.

"And what was he going to do in order to disable him?" he questioned as a discomforted feeling settled into the pit of his stomach.

"He shattered my heart...and because of that...my mind broke, too..." Sora clenched his jaw as a tense pain shot through him from his heart.

"What?" Himitsu asked as she looked to her son.

"Yea...some really bad things happened...and...I had to..." Sora glanced to Riku.

"Riku had to stop me...I would have killed everyone, otherwise...so...he ran me through when I did the same thing to him...and..." another pain slipped through him and went directly to his head, causing him to raise his hand to his forehead as the pain began to throb and caused him to hiss as the discomfort spread.

"Sora?" Himitsu stood and went to her son as he took in a sharp breath, and Riku reached out to him.

"Don't overdo it; if you try and make yourself remember, it'll only make it hurt worse," Riku stated. Akira looked to Sora, who had turned to resting his head against Himitsu's chest as he took in a few steadying breaths to calm the pain spreading through his head.

"Self-induced amnesia?" Riku nodded as he looked to his mother and Kairi's dad.

"Sora was in a lot of pain...but...a few moments after, he forced himself out of it...and he..." Riku closed his eyes against the memory as Akira looked to him.

"Riku? What happened?" she inquired.

"Sora died in my arms...he just...stopped breathing...and..." Himitsu placed her hand atop her son's head and began trying to ease him a bit as Riku looked him over.

"Did you just say that...Sora...died?" asked Tadashi.

"Yes, and we fought our way through almost the entire battle trying to protect him so Master Yen Sid could revive his heart...but...we were all starting to lose hope..." Himitsu felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Then what?" she questioned as she wrapped her arms around the boy curled up against her.

"Sora only came back when Kairi called for him...something about their connection gave him the edge he needed to force himself back into the world of the living...and then, he fought alongside us...we went through a lot...but even with him back, it wasn't over..."

Riku refused to mention that Sora had stopped breathing twice – once when Xemnas shattered his heart and the next when the fight was over – the three adults were better off not knowing that Riku had given up his humanity and become a Dream Eater; however, he did wonder if it was better to keep that a secret or not. Glancing towards Sora gave him the answer he needed as he realized his friend was giving him the assurance that he would help if they overthought what he would tell them next; however, the things they were talking about right now was enough to hurt Sora and cause Kairi to be sick – what would hearing this cause either of them to feel? Riku looked back to Kairi, who remained by the door, pale and sickly-looking, as he took in a deep breath and decided to continue to talk.

"Sora and me used a technique we have called Eternal Sessions, and it weakened Xemnas and allowed Sora to land a finishing blow on him, but once we had managed to defeat him...Sora's heart stopped again." Kairi turned quickly, the memories becoming too much for her once again as she felt bile rise into her throat, which forced her to once more leave the room.

"Oh, God..." muttered Himitsu as she looked to the boy, who was now putting his hands over his ears to block out the words.

"So...Master Yen Sid gave me a choice. I could either allow him to try and maybe bring Sora back with a price that could be overly fixed, or I could surrender something by will and he could have his heart restored to its near original state. Well, I made a choice...and I saved Sora." Akira looked to him.

"And...what did you give up?" she questioned. Riku looked to the side.

"I elected to swear an allegiance to protect him...and surrendered my humanity and became something else instead." the three adults looked to him in shock.

"I didn't want that..." Sora glanced to Riku from where he was, clearly pained, but still looking to him to clarify how he felt.

"I know you didn't, but Sora, I had to protect you, and Kairi needs you in her life. But, you guys remember that summon that I showed you? The Dream Eater?" he inquired.

"Yea, you called him Komory, right?" Riku nodded.

"That's what I became. I'm Sora's chief Dream Eater now," he explained. Akira stared at her son momentarily, and then gave in a heavy sigh.

"I figured you'd do something like that to save someone you cared for. Riku, I'm not mad at you for not telling me, but I wish you would understand that we're capable of helping you if you just let us know," Akira stated. Riku sighed in relief as he looked to Sora, who was slowly settling himself upright as his mother looked to him.

"Are you okay?" he nodded slowly.

"It's starting to let up..."

"Good," she said. Riku looked to the three adults.

"But, once we arrived back at the Mysterious Tower, we completed our Mark of Mastery Exam and defeated Master Yen Sid with flying colors, and then passed the final test flawlessly." Sora smiled a bit weakly at them as Himitsu remained beside him.

"We're Keyblade Masters now...that's what the tattoo on my side is, Mom; it's my Mastery Mark," he explained. Himitsu gave him a rather surprised look.

"You're a Master? Oh! Sora! I'm so proud of you!" she enveloped him into a gentle, yet tight embrace, before looking to him as he smiled to her.

"Thanks..." Akira stood and raced around the table before giving Riku a tight hug as well, while Tadashi looked to the door where Kairi was now lingering.

"You didn't take place in the exam, Kairi?" he questioned. She shook her head.

"No; I'm not experienced enough, and because of that, I'm not allowed yet."

Himitsu looked to her son in distinct surprise as she took in what had been said and what all the results had been from the battle that their children had gone through. Sora and Riku had gone into a full-blown war against Organization Thirteen, and yet, here they were – Keyblade Masters, despite the damage done. If she were honest with herself, Himitsu couldn't be more proud of Sora for what he'd achieved, and even though he hadn't told her the truth from the beginning, she understood. The boy glanced towards her, unsure, before she smiled and placed a gentle hand against his cheek.

"I'm proud of you, and I understand why you didn't tell us...now...I suggest all of you grab what you need to get ready," Himitsu stated. Sora eyed her.

"What?" the three adults laughed.

"We're splitting you three up for a bit and spending time with you," Akira explained. The three teenagers slowly relaxed, and Sora slowly got up.

"Okay, that sounds like fun, but...I have to ask the King a question..." with that, the boy was racing from the room and down the hall.

"I need to finish getting ready, but once I grab a few things, I'll be ready," Kairi said as she got up and left, and Riku soon stood with a similar excuse. As soon as the three teenagers were out of earshot, Himitsu practically collapsed into the chair she was beside, much to the surprise of the two parents who were pale.

Himitsu covered her face and felt tears well up out of her eyes. She had braced herself for many things in her life: raising a child, being there for every cut and bruise, soothing nightmares, loving her child when he needed it, and teaching him what was right, making sure he was capable of taking time to listen, and appreciate the smallest things in his life, and she had even prepared herself for the day that Sora would leave and what might possibly happen to him while he was gone. But she had never suspected, in all that time and for everything she'd braced for, she would have to hear something like she just had. To learn that Sora, Riku, and Kairi were attacked so viciously, that Kairi had pushed herself far beyond what she should have, that she was still ill every time she thought of it, that Riku had to watch something none of them would wish on even their worst enemy, and that Sora had not only suffered injury, but he had also had to endure death and pain. Himitsu felt a shuddering breath rack her slim frame as an arm wrapped around her, and she looked to Akira and Tadashi, who had come to embrace her.

"Oh God...I can't..." Himitsu wiped her eyes, still crying as she did.

"Himi, we understand..." Tadashi said as he watched the woman sob almost uncontrollably.

"I can't believe...why would they hide this? We could have helped them!" she said as she felt tears still spill down her cheeks.

"Sometimes, we have to let them struggle so that they can learn...it's part of them growing up," Akira told her as she held her close.

"I'm sorry..." Tadashi shook his head.

"It's hard watching them grow up...but they're strong, so don't worry, Himi...they can do this," he said. Himitsu nodded slowly.

"Thank you, Akira, Tadashi..." they smiled.

"Don't worry, it's okay..." she sniffed a bit, and wiped her eyes again.

"I know...I'll have faith."

 **{King Mickey's Study: 10:24am}**

King Mickey had been writing down a few details in a memoir that he kept when a knock at the door had come. Instantly, he had told the person to come in, and the door flew open before slamming shut in a manner that seemed far too hurried to be good. The mouse King slowly stood from his chair and looked to see who it was, and found Sora with his hands pressed firmly to the door, arms extended, with his form leaned over and his head hanging between them. The boy was breathing heavily, taking in deep, grating breaths as the King continued to watch, until Sora heaved out a sigh of relief and slowly glanced to the door as he stood straight again.

"Fucking brooms...I did something to you once, why the hell are you always chasing me? For fuck's sake...I just stepped on a fucking floor one damn time and...oh, hello, Your Majesty!" Sora seemed to suddenly come to his senses, and King Mickey smiled.

"I suppose the brooms did something again?" he questioned. The boy groaned.

"You have no idea...they just chased me from the sun room hallway all the way here." the door rattled, and the boy yelped before jumping away. King Mickey laughed a bit.

"Seems they still have it out for you," he said. Sora took in a deep breath and slowly came towards the King with a sheepish expression.

"I thought they were done with this...but..." King Mickey looked him over.

"You seem a bit pale...are you alright?" he asked worriedly. Sora sighed.

"I'm fine...but...my mom and Kairi and Riku's parents know everything..." the mouse King perked up.

"Everything? You told them everything?" he inquired. The young Keyblade Master nodded.

"Yes, but it was me and Riku...Kairi...it made her sick..." the mouse King nodded.

"I suspected it would...but they now know you and Riku are Masters?" King Mickey probed.

"Yes, they do...um...can I ask you a question? Your Majesty.." Sora started to speak and then paused, almost as if he was afraid to ask.

"Sora, you have nothing to be afraid of. What's wrong?" the boy shook his head.

"No, nothing's wrong...but...I was wondering...I would kind of like to take Kairi, Riku, my mom, and their parents...to one of the safe zone worlds for a bit and let them explore..." King Mickey looked the boy over.

"You do realize that you are still in rather bad shape..." Sora nodded.

"I know, but...I'm strong enough to fight...I can use Flowmotion and my Keyblades...I can use spells again..." he stated. The King nodded.

"I'm aware of that, but Sora, please consider that those things alone may not make it safe enough to venture out like that." the boy bit his lip, keeping his eyes down.

"I know...but...I think between myself, Riku, and Kairi we can handle this...if we don't start leaving the Disney Castle or Disney Town, we'll never see where we're stinted in an actual fight...and I've pushed my body more than that in battles since I was thirteen...we can do this...if given the opportunity," Sora explained. Admittedly, he made a valid case.

"Which world did you have in mind?" the boy gave him a faintly hopeful look.

"Either Traverse Town or Hollow Bastion where Squall is...I don't want to bother Cloud and Tifa right now..." the King smiled.

"Traverse Town is your best place, and if Heartless do appear, they'll be fairly easy to handle...at least, I believe so," he stated. Sora looked up at him in surprise.

"So...we..." the King nodded.

"I'll trust you as a Keyblade Master on your word. I know you are strong, Sora, and so is Riku, and Kairi has been improving...plus, your parents now know some defensive magic and have warp charms...I believe you three can handle this much," King Mickey stated with a smile. Sora gave him a beaming look that almost radiated pure excitement and joy.

"Thank you so much, Your Majesty!" the King returned the boy's smile once more.

"Not a problem; now, I heard you can fly a Gummi Ship, is that correct?" the boy nodded.

 **{Front steps of the Palace: 15 minutes Later...}**

Kairi and Riku were waiting with their parents and Sora's mother for the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master to show up; however, when he did, they didn't expect it to be with a small hoard of brooms trailing after him doing their best to grab him. The boy cut a backflip and landed in a crouch, before he jumped over a few of them and drew his Keyblade before casting a Blizzard spell on them. The cleaning objects became rooted to the spot, and the boy landed in a crouch before standing with a groan of frustration as the brooms did their best to get loose. Sora twirled his Keyblade in one hand and rested it beside him as he looked at the one broom that had a random arm loosely waving about.

"For fuck's sake! Would you stop chasing me every time you see me within sights? I stepped on a fucking floor one damn time!" the boy snapped as the broom managed to whack him over the head.

"Dammit! If you don't stop, I'm using you as target practice next time!" Sora heard someone clear their throat behind him, and he sighed heavily.

"Sora Hikari Seiren!" the boy turned his attention to his mother, who had a scolding look upon her face.

"I know...language..." the woman sighed.

"Where did you run off to?" asked Kairi. The boy looked to her with a bright smile.

Within a matter of seconds, Kairi was swung around by the boy and then pulled into a firm embrace with a swift kiss to the lips. Something had made him incredibly happy, and what it was, the girl wasn't sure; however, there was the problem that now had arisen of Sora having just kissed her in front of Riku's mother and her own father. Himitsu giggled as Sora laughed and kissed her again, before Tadashi cleared his throat and caught the boy's attention as he stepped back with a nervous laugh and kept his grasp on Kairi's hand.

"What are you so excited about?" Sora looked directly to them.

"Well..." he was cut off.

"Why did you just kiss my daughter?!" questioned Tadashi. Kairi swallowed thickly.

"Um...well...see...the thing is..." Sora looked to the man.

"I love Kairi with all my heart...sir...we should have told you, but we've been in a relationship since before we returned here...my mom knew...so, I thought..." Himitsu laughed.

"I decided that the two of you needed to tell anyone else by yourself; however, I do agree that I should have made a mention that telling everyone would be better," Himitsu admitted. Tadashi gave her a scalding look before looking at the two teenagers.

"Great, when should I expect grandkids?" the two of them went blood red.

"Not any time soon!" they both said before looking to one another. Riku laughed.

"At least you're on the same page." Sora shook his head.

"Regardless, spend today enjoying time with us separately," the sixteen-year-old stated. The others looked almost horrorstricken.

"What do you mean by that?" sky-blue eyes opened to look at them with excitement evident.

"Are you guys going to another battle?" asked Himitsu. Sora smiled brightly.

"Nope, we'll be taking you three to Traverse Town via Gummi Ship for a few days!" everyone stared wide-eyed.

"The King's going to let us go?" questioned Riku. Sora nodded.

"Yea, I just talked to him, and he gave me the all clear!" the two teenagers cheered.

"Yes! I can't wait!" Kairi stated cheerfully.

"This is going to be great! Traverse Town is amazing!" the others looked to Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

"Is this a place in this world?" asked Akira. Sora gave the three adults a cheeky grin.

"Nope, it's a whole new world! I've been there plenty of times! But you guys are going to love it!" the three adults shrugged minutely and smiled equally.

"Okay, let's do it, then," Himitsu stated. The three teenagers gave them excited smiles.

"Yes!" Akira grabbed Riku.

"After we spend the day apart and with each of you!" she stated as she grabbed her backpack and another one before tilting her head towards the forest.

"So...where are we being kidnapped to?" Tadashi smiled.

"I'm taking Kairi to the east side of town for the day," he answered.

"I'm taking Riku on a hiking trip." Sora looked to his mother.

"And I'm being taken...where?" Himitsu smiled.

"To the north side. You and Kairi can have a date later on once we're gone, but right now, the two of you are spending the day with your old and annoying parental figures," she stated.

"You aren't old, and you aren't annoying." Himitsu grinned broadly.

"It's also the perfect opportunity for us both to give you two lovely lovebirds a very long discussion about being careful when..." both teenagers quickly put their hands up to stop Himitsu.

"No, thank you, Nurse Seiren, I don't need a long conversation about that again; I've already been given that wonderful shock to my system, and I have no desire to relive my previous trauma," Sora stated. Riku looked him over.

"Your previous trauma?" he inquired. Sora looked at him expectantly.

"My mother is a nurse with _enough medical training to be a doctor_...do I need to stress what that was like?" Kairi winced.

"Eh...I'm good," she muttered. Riku rolled his eyes.

"How bad could it be? If anything, I think it would be informative." Sora looked him over.

"She had too much information...and diagrams..." the boy shivered a bit, and Riku blanched.

"I apologize...I now understand your suffering," Riku stated while he placed a hand upon the boy's shoulder.

"Thank you, kindly...strange whom I've never met." Riku narrowed his eyes.

"You little troll!"

"Bring it on, Hobgoblin!" the three adults gaped as Kairi sighed.

"Oh, dear..."

"Earth is full. Go home!" Riku stated. Sora gave him a faint smirk.

"I'm busy now, can I ignore you some other time?" Himitsu bit her lip so not to laugh as the two boys looked one another over. Akira felt her eyes grow wide, and Tadashi momentarily watched in confusion as Kairi shook her head in defeat.

"How old are you? Wait! I shouldn't ask that! You can't count that high!" Riku said. The boy before him sighed and shook his head.

"I have a poem for you." The four around them eyed the boy.

"Oh, how sweet! What's it say?" Riku questioned.

"Roses are red, violets are blue, I have ten fingers, the middle ones are for you." the boy put up both his middle fingers at the silver-haired teen, who gaped, as did Tadashi.

"Now, hold on just a minute!" he declared. Kairi put her hand on her father's shoulder.

"I don't recommend it...if you step between them...they drag you into it..." Himitsu felt her jaw drop as Sora smirked to Riku, who narrowed his eyes at the challenge.

"Failure must be commonplace with you," the silver-haired teen stated. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, nobody asked for your life story." Akira winced.

"Please tell me they don't take this too far?" she questioned. Kairi swallowed a bit thickly.

"Thankfully...that's only happened once..."

"I've seen people like you before, but I had to pay admission," Riku told him. Sora yawned.

"Why is it acceptable for you to be an idiot, but not for me to point it out?" the silver-haired teen frowned.

"Sora, you little..." the boy gave him an impish smile.

"I'm sorry, was I meant to be offended?" he inquired. Himitsu laughed.

"My goodness, I've seen you do that one in town once before, but this is remarkable..." Sora grinned.

"Well, that's all folks!" With that, he walked away, and Riku sighed.

"Leaving me to face the music alone, huh?" he inquired. Sora smirked in a snarky manner before stopping where he was shoulder to shoulder with Riku and held his hand up in a fist, to which Riku responded by knocking the back of his against the other boy's

"Never; it's all in good fun, partner." Riku laughed.

"Figures you'd end up being the snarky one, huh?" Sora smirked in a way that showed his teeth.

"Yea, who knew. Now, get a move on – your mom is waiting," he said as he walked away and grabbed Himitsu, who laughed as she was dragged along the road that led to the North side of town, while the other four remained where they stood.

"It's always the quiet ones..."

 **{…...}**

 _I'm scared of change and the days stay the same, the world is spinning but only in gray..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: You guessed it! The next chapter will be the three teens dealing with their parents alone! We'll be starting off with Riku and his mom, then Kairi and her dad, followed by Sora and his mom. After that, we'll be having some fun with the group being in Traverse Town! Yippy! So, who's excited?

Amazingly enough, we're actually caught up to Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Dreams. Which, if you have been reading this since December of 2015, you would know that was the FIRST Kingdom Hearts story I have ever put up. It will be cleaned up, naturally, but it's complete, and all of you will be happy to know that the two stories that follow it are underway.

No fears, Kingdom Hearts: Genesis will continue to be updated; however, it will be updated periodically, because it is a 70-chapter story that will require an extended time frame before it's complete. Looking forward to more reviews from my amazing, awesome, and epic readers!

Preview:

"So, what's it like being a Keyblade Master? Riku?"

"Are you happy? Kairi?"

"I need to talk to you about something, Sora."

Chapter 12: For Ourselves


	12. Chapter 12: For Ourselves

Chapter 12: For Ourselves

 **{Disney Castle Forest: 11:30am, May 12th 2013}**

Riku sighed as he laid back across the grass in the shady meadow they were near. His mother and him had been hiking for a good half-hour when they had stopped and decided to have lunch. Admittedly, Riku knew that the parents needed time with them because they hadn't been able to separate the three of them since they'd arrived. Sora clung to both himself and Kairi, but they equally clung to one another for support that they knew their parents wouldn't be able to give them. Between companionship and family, there was little the three Keyblade Wielders wanted, besides being together and safe. That feeling of safety had been torn from them so many times since they'd left on April first for an exam that turned into hell on earth, and they needed that security desperately.

"So, do you like living here?" Akira asked as she watched her son.

"It's peaceful and a great place to come back to once we're done with our jobs as Keyblade Wielders..." the woman smiled.

"Oh...are you ever going to come back to the Islands?" she questioned him. A cyan eye glanced towards her.

"Sometimes, but both myself and Sora are Keyblade Masters now...we have bigger responsibilities...and...that means stepping up and doing both group and solo missions...not to mention at some point, we have to take on students, and we have so many things we have to keep tabs on, and then Xehanort and Organization Thirteen, not to mention the activity of the Heartless, Nobodies, or just..." Akira smiled, and he paused.

"You're rambling...you know...your father would have come...but..." Riku nodded.

"It's the best time of the year for him to haul in a big catch. If he doesn't go, he can't make enough money at the markets, and atop that, we have to rely on him for meals most of the time..." Akira sighed quietly.

"He said to wish you the best...he only got to see you for a few days while you were home...but..." the woman felt a tear slide down her cheek.

"Mom?" Riku sat up and watched as she brushed her hand across her eyes.

"Silly me...the Islands aren't exactly your home anymore, are they, sweetheart?" she questioned. Riku frowned as he watched her, and then shook his head.

"No, my home is where my heart is, and that's..." he paused, and Akira smiled.

"Riku, _your heart is here_ , with Sora and Kairi...your heart lies with being a Keyblade Master, with this battle that's taking place...with being Sora's Dream Eater and protecting him and Kairi...you're right; you have responsibilities, and you have many things you have to do..." the soon-to-be seventeen-year-old sighed.

"I can't argue with you there...but...I just..." the woman looked to him and smiled.

"He's all grown up, and he's a wonderful person...I can't believe what an amazing young man he's become..."

"Riku? Can I ask you something?" the boy – no, young man – looked to her.

"What's wrong?" she shook her head.

"Nothing's wrong, sweetheart, but I can't help but wonder..." he gave her a questioning look.

"Wonder what?" she hummed in thought.

"So, what's it like being a Keyblade Master? Riku?" the silver-haired teen smiled.

"It's...tough, and we haven't done anything...it's the reality that this is who I am now that's so stressful," he answered.

"Do you think you can do it?" he smiled.

"Yea...I do. I may not be ready for it, but I need to just brace myself and go for it – you can't prepare or be ready for everything, unfortunately," Riku stated. Akira smiled.

"I think you'll be fine. You...f-fought for this...R-Riku..." tears welled in her eyes again.

"Mom...we'll be fine. Kairi's okay, Sora's going to heal, and he'll pull through – he's stronger than he looks – and I'm happy with what I've decided. I promise," he told her sincerely.

"To think you three went through that much s-suffering...I'm sorry...you know I'm not a weepy person, but this...this is just...Riku... _I'm so sorry_..." she wiped her eyes again, and Riku smiled before pulling her into a firm embrace. Akira sniffed a bit, and wrapped her arms around him.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, okay? You're my mom, and it means a lot to me to know you care so much...even when you don't fully understand what's happening...admittedly...even all of us out there fighting don't understand what's really going on...but we can do anything if we stick together," he said as she nodded and sat back before pulling up a small container from within her backpack.

"So...gingersnaps?" Riku laughed.

"Sure..."

 **{Disney Town: East Side, 12:20pm}**

Per Queen Minnie and Lady Daisy's advice, Kairi had picked out a nice cafe for lunch, via her father's request for her to choose where they would go that day. As they had strolled through town, Kairi enjoyed her time with her dad; however, she kept wondering if Sora was okay. Riku would be fine, he was the hardest to mentally damage, and while he had been the one to cling to Sora once he'd come out of the Dive to the Heart, he was the least rattled of the three of them. Kairi had moments when she'd look at Sora and still see the image of him lying there completely lifeless and unresponsive like a marionette that had its strings cut. The girl shivered under the shade of the pale yellow umbrella that her and her father sat at while they waited on their meals.

She had been quiet for too long, she realized, when her father cleared his throat and called her name. Aquamarine eyes looked to him in questioning as he looked at the book settled in front of her. They had been to a bookstore before arriving where they were, and she had gotten a few books – one was a book on fairytales that she had enjoyed sparsely reading when she was younger, but never wanted to finish because the stories scared her sometimes. The second book she had gotten for Riku and it was on shapeshifting – why she had gotten such a strange book for him, she wasn't sure – and then the last one was for Sora, and it was a book on Norse Mythology and other legends from the Nordic Vikings. She sighed as she looked at the leather cover of her book and all its ornate scrollwork designs and gothic lettering.

"You were spacing out," Tadashi told her. She nodded.

"Sorry, did you say something that I missed?" the man shook his head.

"No, but you had gotten really quiet...Kairi?" the girl looked to him.

"Yea, dad?" he sighed.

"Are you alright? From earlier?" he questioned. The red-haired girl looked down.

"I'm okay, just a bit shaken up. I didn't expect to have to listen to a re-telling of that so soon." the man nodded in understanding.

"Kairi, can I ask you a question?" the girl tensed faintly.

"Is everything okay?" she asked. The man gave her a quick look.

"I believe it is; however, Kairi...you and Sora haven't...done anything, have you?" the girl frowned.

"You need to be more specific than that," she stated. There were many things that she had Sora had done together over the recent months, but she wanted to be sure it was what she was thinking he was asking before saying anymore.

"Have you and Sora been intimate? Have you had sex?" the girl went blood-colored.

"No! Dad! _We're in the middle of a war!_ We wouldn't be doing something like that!" she stated sharply as she looked at him in shock.

"Kairi, I'm not insinuating that you have, but you're both teenagers and I know that the two of you are responsible, but that doesn't change the fact that, if you two were alone and maybe just got a little carried away, or..." Kairi shook her head fervently, the black hood of her pink dress moving with her.

"No, Dad. Sora's a Keyblade Master, and while we have stayed close together and we've kissed...we've not gone farther than that out of respect for one another...also, while I do like the prospect of maybe being with him in such a way, that's the last thing on my mind...also, I kinda think he's going to be the one I marry...if the war turns in our favor." Tadashi sighed.

"I didn't want to make you angry...I just..." Kairi gave him a pointed look.

"I'm a Keyblade Wielder, a Princess of Heart, and I'm in a relationship with a Keyblade Master who's supposed to deal the killing blow to the person who, personally, I think is the Master of all Evil. Therefore, I don't think you have to worry about us reproducing any time soon," she said exasperatedly.

Tadashi sighed again as he heard the words his daughter said. Never in all his life did he suspect that he'd hear those words from anyone, let alone his own daughter; however, this was reality, and he would have to accept it. Nonetheless, he did have concerns for her being in a war and in a relationship with the Keyblade Master destined to end the war – if Kairi were to end up expecting a child it could be disastrous. He leaned back in his chair, wondering why on earth – earths? Worlds? How does one say that with the knowledge he now possessed? – he had to deal with this alone. Surely Himitsu was having a similar conversation with Sora, but the boy seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and know when to tread lightly; however, he did question what to do if that day came sooner rather than later.

"Are you happy? Kairi?" she looked to him.

"I am, why?" he shook his head.

"Just...Kairi? Can you promise me something?" he inquired. The girl looked to him as the waiter placed the two bowls of pasta in front of them: Spaghetti for himself, and chicken and mozzarella ravioli with alfredo sauce for Kairi.

"What is it?" she grabbed her fork and began to cut it up before taking a bite and smiling at the good taste.

"If something like that were to happen, and you...two were to end up expecting a child...just promise me that the two of you will think of that child first, and protect it...be responsible firstly, but if that ultimately doesn't work...just cherish each other and that child," he stated. Kairi paused momentarily, and then smiled slowly.

"Dad, I would anyways. In a war... _life is too precious to mindlessly toss away,_ and so is life in any other circumstance. If that were to happen...I would always love that child, and Sora would, too." Tadashi smiled.

"Thank you, Kairi...you know...you remind me more of your mother every day," he said. Kairi looked to him with a smile.

"I don't even remember her...not really..." she took another bite of her meal.

"You look like her, and you have her smile, her laugh, and her heart. She was such a warm person, and she was strong, brave, and compassionate," he explained. Kairi smiled.

"Thank you...for telling me..." Kairi placed a hand to her chest where the pearl pendant of her necklace laid near her heart.

"She would be proud of you..." she looked to him and nodded.

Kairi knew that, no matter what, her mother and father loved her, and were proud of the things she did because she believed in them. There was one thing her mother told her when she was little that she still remembered to this day: if you believe in something, you should fight for it no matter what, and that was exactly what Kairi was doing: she was fighting for what she knew in her heart was right.

{Northern Side of Disney Town: 2:02pm}

"Sora, what are you up to?" Himitsu questioned as she looked at the boy.

He had been caught up suddenly by a bunch of the children in the town. They were well aware that he was a Keyblade wielder – most, if not all, of the people within the town knew who they were – and had been for the last few minutes entertaining them. The boy was settled in a shady area of the park, surrounded by the children who were staring onward in awe as he used small bits and pieces of magic to create illusions of birds, butterflies and flowers. The children remained awestruck as he vanished the last of the illusions and one of the boy's piped up.

"Oh! Have you ever seen a dragon?" he asked. Himitsu smiled as she came a bit closer, and the children gave her a quick smile before turning their attention back to him.

"I saw a person turn into a dragon before – she was really nasty, and tried to hurt me, Donald, and Goofy...but we beat her, and I haven't seen her since." The children made a sound of awe, and Himitsu giggled a bit.

"Okay, Sora, you need to eat – you're still recovering from your Mark of Mastery exam," she stated. The children looked to her and then back to the boy before them.

"You're a Master?!" two of the children jumped up in surprise.

"Yep, I just finished my exam in April," he stated.

"Whoa!" the children said in unison as Himitsu handed Sora a bento box, and the children got up with a giggle and waved goodbye as their parents began to collect them. Himitsu smiled as one of the women came over to him and got their daughter, who looked to him with questioning.

"A Keyblade Master...hmmh...you're just a child," she stated. Sora gave her a swift look.

"I just completed the examination under Grand Master Yen Sid, and I live with King Mickey Mouse – I also took the examination with Master Riku Hirigaya. I have no need to prove anything to you, and therefore, I have no desire to continue this conversation if you so desire to look down upon me." the woman gaped momentarily and took in a deep breath.

"It's been a long time since I've seen a Keyblade Master around these parts...my granddaughter saw you and desired to meet you in person," she said in a calmer tone.

"Oh...may I ask who the Keyblade Master was?" the woman looked to him and then smiled in a mild manner.

"His name was Ventus Alveria, he stated that he came from the Land of Departure with two of his fellow Masters, and they had gotten separated while trying to help out with the Festival of Dreams...oh...what were their names..." the little girl looked to her grandmother, and the woman looked down.

"Grandma...can I ask the Master a question?" she inquired in a small voice. The woman smiled, and then looked to the boy.

"Is there something you want to ask?" the girl nodded, her long brown hair tied into ringlets with a large white bow behind it. She wore a simple white and pink dress and had a pair of simple dress shoes on. The girl's large hazel eyes looked him over, and Sora smiled.

"C-can...I...give you a kiss?" the boy looked a bit surprised and the grandmother laughed.

"It's always a little girl's dream to kiss a knight in shining armor..." she stated. Himitsu smiled at the sweet gesture, and Sora sighed with a smile.

"Okay, but don't tell my girlfriend; she'll get jealous I'm getting attention from such a pretty young lady like yourself."

The little girl was clearly uncomfortable as she moved over towards him, and swallowed heavily as she began to get a bit closer until she was leaning closer to him before placing a gentle kiss to his cheek, and then she stepped back, flushed in the face, as he smiled and reached for her hand. The little girl let him take it and he placed a simple kiss to her hand before the girl looked to him with a bright smile as she giggled and ran off towards her friends. The grandmother laughed while Himitsu looked to her son, momentarily surprised by his patience around a child, which she had never seen him around before.

"My, you are a gentleman. Very much so like they were, and believe me, this is refreshing to see someone with such good manners at your age. And I suppose you must be his sister?" she questioned. Himitsu laughed a bit.

"Oh, heavens, no! I'm his mother." The woman looked momentarily surprised.

"You're very young to have such a handsome and brave young man as your son!" she stated.

"I had him very young, and his father passed away when he was still little..." the woman gave her a small look.

"I am sorry to hear about that. However, you should be proud of your son, becoming a Master...what's your name, and how old are you?" the woman questioned.

"Oh, may I have your name?" the woman gave him a smile.

"Angela Baker, and my granddaughter is Mina Hanson," she stated. Sora felt his eyes grow momentarily wide.

"Mina? That's...a lovely name." the woman smiled to him.

"What is your name?" the boy gave her a quick look over.

"I'm Sora Seiren. I'm sixteen, ma'am," he answered. Mrs. Baker momentarily felt her eyes grow wide.

"You're...oh, my...I didn't realize you were that boy...the one who stopped Maleficent, and the Darkness Seeker almost two years ago!" she said with surprise.

"Oh, yes, ma'am; that's me." Mrs. Baker shook her head and laughed.

"You are quite the amazing youth; I will grant you that. Well, I must take my leave, but bless you, child," the woman said as she left to get her granddaughter. Himitsu looked to her son.

"Well, I didn't know you were a celebrity." Sora rolled his eyes as he opened the bento box and began to pick at the meat that was present.

"I'm not really, but people know what I did...everyone talks in the worlds, and people have other connections in multiple worlds, so they consistently talk about the events going on...one of the biggest ones are the new Keyblade Chosen Ones that are running all over the place now," he stated as he took a bite of the rice. Himitsu continued to eat her own meal while listening to him.

"I see..." Himitsu looked to him, lacking his jacket and his gloves, while they sat under a tree in the park.

"It's nice to enjoy a relaxing day after all that insanity..." Sora mentioned briefly as he continued on with the next section in the box and listened to the rush of the breeze through the trees, the sound of the birds chirping, and the running water nearby.

Himitsu felt her stomach knot up as she sat beside her son in silence. She had believed that spending time alone with Sora away from the others would be beneficial, and yet, she was almost at a loss of how to talk to him. This wasn't the little boy that had left the islands almost two years ago, had walked out of the world and into a life full of challenge and adventure. Chocolate-brown eyes looked to the boy and looked him over in questioning – how much of this person beside her was still the Sora she had known since he was a babe? How much of him was still the shy, sensitive, quiet, introverted boy? And how much of him was the brave, strong, fearless, snarky, mouthy teenager he had become? Himitsu sighed and finished off her meal before closing the box up and looked out to the sky that was the same color of his eyes while the boy beside her remained silent.

 _"He's changed...I can't get back who he was, but he's here now...and I need to help him...no matter what..."_

Himitsu turned to look at him, and her eyes traveled down to the boy's left hand, where she froze and focused on one particular thing that she wished she didn't have to. There was a reason that she often panicked when he didn't wear his gloves, there were many reasons why she blocked questions about the two weeks he was out, and there were endless reasons why she was so cautious around him when it came to certain topics, and unfortunately, she was looking directly at the source of all those things.

"Mom?" the boy was looking to her, and she flinched.

"Yes? Sora?" the woman asked.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Himitsu looked down.

"I wanted to ask why stopped wearing your gloves," she stated.

"Oh, I just decided I didn't want to for now. I typically only wear them and my jacket when we're on missions, so...I figured it wasn't a big deal...why?" the woman sighed.

"You _know why,_ " she said.

"Mom, none of them have noticed, okay? I doubt anyone will." He took another bite of his meal, and then finished before closing the lid as he placed the chopsticks atop the lid.

"Just...I..." Sora looked to her.

"What are you worried about?" Himitsu shook her head.

"I need to talk to you about something, Sora," she stated.

"What about?" Himitsu took in a deep breath.

"You haven't done it again, have you?" she inquired. The boy looked at her with a sullen expression.

"Why would you even ask that?" Himitsu looked to him and then grabbed his wrist before she slid her fingers along the line that traced the center of his arm.

"The last time you did that...I..." Sora jerked his arm free.

"It's not like that..." Sora looked down.

"Sora, I just..." he glanced her way.

"If you want to talk to me about this, do it _when we're behind closed doors_ , not when we're out in public," he said. Himitsu looked down.

"I didn't want the others overhearing it, and we're far away from other people. Listen, I..." Sora shot her a glare that sent a chill through her bones.

"You dragged me out here, away from all the others, to ask me if I'd really try do this again?" he stood up, and Himitsu froze.

 _"Don't walk away from me, please...don't do this..."_

"Sora, I didn't..." he sighed.

"Talk to me about it back home. Come on, let's go," he stated as he kept his back turned to her, and waited. Himitsu put the boxes away, and grabbed her bag before walking towards him, and started to trail behind him as they left the town and headed back towards the castle.

Himitsu had to hope that this would go smoother once they were in more familiar settings.

 **{Disney Castle: 4:15pm}**

Himitsu was settled in Sora's room, the boy was pacing, his eyes a bit wide and his face pale as he did so. If she hadn't known better, she would have assumed he was on the verge of being ill, but the boy seemed to be faring well in that department; however, he was unfortunately not doing well. Himitsu knew why; naturally, it was a topic that made her nervous and brought back something he didn't wish to relive. However, she had seen relapses with patients dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and wanted to be clear with him that he wouldn't fall into that state again. Sora continued to pace, looking shell-shocked and admittedly frightened by the mere idea of bringing up a subject such as this one from many years ago – the topic at hand had been something that he'd done to himself just under two years ago when he had only been thirteen for a couple months, during the spring of the same year that he'd ended up going on his first adventure, and now, here he was staring it in the face once again.

"Sora, please stop pacing, you're making me nervous," Himitsu stated.

" _Making you nervous? Ha!_ I'm the one whose facing one of my own demons that I never wanted to talk about again..." the woman looked down.

"I understand that, but this is something that we need to discuss," she said. The boy paused.

"What is there to discuss? _That I cut myself?_ That I tried to kill myself? That I have a single fucking scar on me because of my own hands? Mom! It was almost two years ago, I'm over it! I let it go! I don't care about what happened back then!" Himitsu sighed.

"Sora, do you understand that, because you used to cut, you could relapse?" she questioned.

"I get it! I'm fucked up in the head! Okay? I'm never going to be right or perfect, but dammit, I'm not damaged like you assume I am! I'm perfectly fine! _Nothing is wrong with me!_ And I..." Himitsu stopped him.

"You aren't damaged, you've just had struggles, and you've had a lot of problems...it's okay, Sora; _no one is perfect_ , and I'm not saying you have to be," she told him.

"I know, but listen, I'm a different person than I was then...I haven't even thought about it until now, honestly." The boy swallowed thickly and Himitsu took in a deep breath.

"Listen, Sora, I don't want to remind you of that – I just want to make sure you aren't going to do it again..." the boy put his hands over his face, bowing his head slightly as he stood there, looking needlessly helpless.

"I'm not a cutter...and I'm not a person who would commit suicide...I made a mistake because I didn't know that if I just talked about it...then I would be okay...I didn't know that if I wore my heart on a sleeve and didn't have a tough enough skin to deal with things that I would get hurt...I know that now." Himitsu stood and wrapped her arms around him, causing him to flinch.

"You're strong, Sora...like your dad, and I know it hurts to think about it, but you just gave yourself the answer...listen, sweetheart..." the boy looked to his mother as she settled him down on his bed, and sat there next to him.

"I won't do that again...I hated it when I did it...I did my best...but..." Himitsu placed her hand atop his head and pulled him closer before letting him lean against her.

"There are two scars, one from just seeing, and one from giving up...after that...you never gave up again. No matter what, you never gave up, and you stood up for yourself...it woke up something inside you..." Sora felt his eyes grow faintly heavy.

"I don't know if I like what it woke up, though...there's this...darkness inside me...something I keep locked away from everyone because I don't want them to know..." Himitsu looked to him and placed a kiss to his forehead.

" _Everyone_ has darkness inside them, and everyone has light inside them...it just depends upon the person as to which part of their heart they choose to act upon. You are just as pure as anyone I've ever known, you have a heart of gold, and you're loving and gentle...Sora, you're still an innocent," she told him as he leaned his head against her, listening faintly to the sound of her heartbeat.

"What now?" Himitsu looked down for a moment.

"Do Riku or Kairi know?" she questioned. He shook his head.

"I never told them...I didn't want them to know that I did that..." she smiled.

"Well, keep fighting, and keep letting your light shine, Ilys," she said as she placed a kiss to his forehead, and took a moment to brush his bangs from his eyes before pulling him into her arms.

As long as someone was there to help, he could overcome it, and if someone just so happened to no longer be there, Sora would never let his light extinguish, and it would see him through and never leave because it was who he was, and if this scar, these two marks were a reminder of the one time he surrendered, then he never would again.

 **{…...}**

 _If I break the glass, then I'll have to fly - there's no one to catch me if I take a dive..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Well, that's Chapter 12. Also, I want to mention this blankly: I am in support of Suicide Awareness and am basing Sora's aforementioned situation based upon a similar situation with a close personal friend who tried to commit suicide. I, under no circumstances, want this to offend anyone, but I also want anyone who reads this to realize that it isn't a pretty little situation; it's a real, frightening, and heartbreaking thing to watch someone you love go through. He's fine now, but believe me, that was a dark, dark moment in his life.

Just getting that out there, because I don't want someone to just assume I did this on a whim. Actually, Sora's scar is mentioned in _Chapter 5 of Kingdom Hearts: Genesis,_ and yes, at a later date, the others will learn about it, but only when Sora is ready to tell them. Now, about the next chapter.

We are down to the final 5 chapters in this story, so look for the title of the next story in the author's note at the last chapter, as well as the song title and artist so you can hear the song if you wish _(I recommend that with all of these stories)_ and can know where to go next. The next chapter is them in Traverse Town, and there will be many things happening. I hope you all are enjoying the story, and I look forward to your reviews.

Preview:

"Can you actually drive?"

"Welcome to Traverse Town!"

"Respect your elders!"

Chapter 13: A World Tour


	13. Chapter 13: A World Tour

Chapter 13: A World Tour

 **{Disney Castle Courtyard: 8:45am, May 13th 2013}**

Sora stretched a bit as he leaned against the Gummi Ship that was settled in the courtyard of the castle. Kairi and Riku weren't present yet; however, he honestly didn't mind one bit. After all, the details of the recent months were laying heavily upon his mind, and he had little time to actually consider this recently. Sighing heavily, Sora looked up at the sky that was slowly growing lighter and brighter as the sun rose higher. Life wasn't going to be easy, and he knew that, but unfortunately, everything was happening so fast, and he had no trouble accepting that fact – all the same, none of them had prepared for all the trauma they'd dealt with. Sora didn't know what to do, and he felt himself shiver whenever he thought about the tiny fragments of memories he had from the Dream Drop.

 _"Am I going to remember this? Or am I going to always draw a blank?"_

Riku had constantly avoided the topic, as had anyone else who was involved in the event when around him, and while Sora wanted someone to tell him what had happened, he also knew that there was nothing to be done. Sighing, Sora took a breath and considered what was facing him, now that he and Riku had become Keyblade Masters. They had several requirements ahead of them that Master Yen Sid had not entirely told them about yet, and while they were expecting to be given a full debriefing, it hadn't happened yet, but it would come eventually. Sora slipped down against the Ship and placed his head against his knees while a faint sting appeared in his side from some of the few lasting wounds.

Sora knew for a fact that, as a Keyblade Master, he would be charged with keeping a balance between the darkness and the light, keep Heartless at bay, deal with Xehanort, and attend to situations in worlds that could cause destruction. Some of those details seemed no different than what he had already been dealing with, but there were a few parts that were twice as complicated. Sora was obligated to take on several students; he had to train them, take them through the trials of being a Keyblade Wielder, and he would have to give them the Mark of Mastery Examination when they were ready. He groaned, not looking forward to the day that came. As he considered to ponder his future students, there was a series of crunches in his direction and he looked up, instantly going on guard and slowly slinking his way into a tensed position to prepare for a potential fight. Sora only relaxed when he saw Kairi and the others present.

"About time you guys got here!" he said happily. Kairi smiled as she came towards him, and the others started to look at the ship.

"What are you doing with a Gummi Ship?" Sora smiled.

"Well, we're going to Traverse Town...so Chip and Dale gave the ship for me to use," Sora explained as the group looked at him in questioning.

"Can you _actually_ drive?" the boy gave Riku and the others a dull look.

"Yes, I can. I drove during the events of my first adventure," he said bluntly.

"Okay; so, we're flying to Traverse Town?" Sora nodded as he started towards the entrance hatch.

"I don't honestly trust the Star Shards to actually do their complete job. Star Shards will allow you to go, but they may not always bring you where you want to go..." they nodded.

"Sounds like fun...so, are you ready to go?" asked Kairi as she came to stand next to him.

"Just board up!"

The group of six boarded the ship and got into their seats before Sora moved over to the pilot seat and buckled up as Riku sat beside him, and Kairi took a seat behind him while the adults did the same. Checking over the systems quickly, Sora turned the engine on and set to checking the final set up before taking the wheel as he looked at the others, who gave him a quick assurance that they were buckled up and ready to leave before he nodded, and the Gummi Ship lifted from the ground. The ship moved around a bit and then upwards, where it met an opening portal before it darted forward and entered. Light encased them for only a moment before they were sailing through galaxies. The group who hadn't flown on a Gummi Ship too many times instantly went to looking out the windows, taking in the stars and constellations before they began to see worlds appearing, near and far, around them.

Sora glanced towards the others while Riku raised an eyebrow at the boy, who flipped a few switches and set in the navigator as if he had done it his entire life. Naturally, Riku did wonder when Sora had been taught how to pilot a Gummi Ship; however, he was less concerned with this and more concerned with what the boy would be doing as they neared one of the few worlds that was considered the safest area for them to be, despite the fact that Heartless hoards could still easily appear. Nonetheless, Sora continued to do a series of checks and set up the coordinates for Traverse Town.

As they continued to coast, the group took in a few worlds that were settled floating in the glittering abyss around them. Sora glanced at Riku, who was giving him an inquiring look as Sora looked towards the stars ahead of them, trying to give himself a bit of a leverage for what he knew could follow them. Riku took in a deep breath and decided not to ask for the time being. It wasn't twenty minutes later that they were rammed by something, and the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master groaned in frustration.

"What?! Can you just leave me _the fuck_ alone?!" the boy snapped as he looked at the small black ship that sped past them.

"What was that?" Himitsu frowned and Sora sighed.

"Heartless can fly ships; and yes, Mom, I know... _language_..." The woman looked at the ship speeding by.

"Sora, what are we going to do?" Kairi questioned. He sighed.

"Do you honestly think I have _all the answers?_ " Riku eyed him.

"We're not trying to pressure you, but you are the one who knows how to fly these ships," he stated. The boy took in a deep breath.

"Honestly, I'm just going avoid it, and listen, I'm going to have to do some dodging, but we can use a warp-speed gauge once we get past these clusters of worlds." Riku nodded.

"Okay, so...what do we need to do?" he inquired. Sky-blue eyes looked to cyan.

"Buckle up."

The group did as told, and almost instantly, a series of crackling noises came through as a hoard of black-and-gray-toned ships came flying through them as they latched in their seatbelts, and Sora looked forward as the ships turned back around and came towards them. Sky-blue eyes narrowed at the potential challenge as Sora turned the ship sideways and jerked it swiftly to one side before flipping a switch which allowed him to shoot a small laser shot towards the Heartless ships. Taking in the sight, the sixteen-year-old Keyblade Master pressed the petal down swiftly, and the ship shot forward and slipped by the opening in a manner that had them slammed into their seats, as Sora dodged another set of attacks by spinning the ship a few times before banking to the right as the boy grabbed a clutch and jerked it backwards before the ship blasted forward, slamming them into their seats and locking their breath into their bodies as Sora pushed the ship forward until it past a small cluster of worlds, and then the pressure let up and the Gummi Ship began to slow, and Sora took in a deep breath as he flipped a switch and slumped in his seat.

"Okay...that went well..." Riku looked to him in shock as the others unstuck themselves from their seats.

"Well? You just about crushed us!" stated Tadashi as he looked at the teenager.

"Okay...then it went okay...it could have gone worse..." Sora stretched his arms above his head a bit and flinched as a sharp twinge developed in his ribs. The boy dropped his arms quickly and clutched his sides, folding his arms across his front to grip at his ribs. Riku moved towards him, and the boy shook his head as a shaky breath left him.

"Sora?" the boy gave Riku a weak smile.

"I'm okay, just sore. That's to be expected, with the beating we were given," he said with a calm expression.

"You need to take it easy, though – you got the worst out of it." Sky-blue eyes rolled in annoyance.

"Aren't you the one who got flung into the pillars about six times? And took an energy blade to the sides and back?" Kairi winced.

"Are you okay? You moved around really fast...you could have pulled your wounds," she said. Sora gave her a bright smile.

"I'm fine! We're almost to Traverse Town!" Kairi nodded, trusting Sora to know what to do.

 **{Traverse Town: 10:00am}**

The group of six landed outside the World Gate of the city and departed from the ship with little difficulty as Sora stood before the large oak doors and waited for the group to stand before him. King Mickey had given him a set of instructions that would define their stay in the world. Sora smiled as the group looked around them, and he waved them over before they stopped before him where he stood in the way of the doors. Naturally, Sora wanted to clarify a few details that had allowed them to even arrive in this world in the first place. Sky-blue eyes looked at Kairi and Riku, who gave him a confused look, as Sora gave Himitsu, Akira, and Tadashi a small smile.

"So...I have a few things that King Mickey told me to inform you before we go into the world," he stated.

"What did the King tell you, Sora?" the boy gave them a glance to the side.

"Traverse Town is like a maze, and if we aren't careful, we could get lost. So please, don't split up from the group and remain where we're supposed to, stay out of certain districts, and Riku...I think you know which ones those are," he stated.

"Oh! I guess the damage is still there from the exam..." Akira perked up a bit.

"Actually, I'd like to see the damage done from that," she said. Sora groaned.

"Oh, for the love of Kingdom Hearts...if we sent you into the districts we were in for our first examination, we might be in the way of people fixing up whatever type of damage we might have caused." Kairi smiled faintly.

"Interesting terminology," she stated. Sky-blue narrowed playfully.

"I could have used another one...but..." Himitsu laughed.

"Let's go in, and you can continue to tell us about the rules while we're here, Master Sora," she told him. The boy flushed and jumped back against the doorway.

"It's weird hearing that coming from any of my friends...let alone my mom!" the others laughed as Sora narrowed his eyes before groaning as he grabbed the handle of the doors.

"Let's see this world," Akira told him with a smile. The boy sighed and slowly opened the door before looking back at the group.

"Welcome to Traverse Town."

The doors opened to a warmly lit town square made of weatherworn brick and cobblestone that looked well-traveled upon. Riku and Sora smiled as they looked to one another and stepped aside as the others slowly walked into the world and took it all in. The two Keyblade Masters recalled the last few times they'd come to Traverse Town, and for the most part, they were good memories. Riku did recall the darker aspect of being in the world because of influence given to him from Maleficent and the time after that, when he and Sora had been dropped into the world to take the first step towards becoming Masters. Sora glanced to Riku and then nudged him before shaking his head as he looked at him in questioning – the others were in awe of the world, but Sora knew that Riku would need to be given a moment to step back and look at the details of the past around him.

Most of Sora's memories attached to this world were good, but that wasn't the same for Riku, who had only been there when he was unintentionally luring Sora to Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent intended to use Kairi's heart to give her power over the worlds. Ultimately, it had been Ansem, Seeker of Darkness who was trying to take over the worlds, but Sora knew for a fact that the past mistakes could be fixed, and he had no fear of Riku – in fact, he trusted his childhood friend with his life.

"Don't think about it...the past isn't meant to be weighed upon...it's meant to teach us a lesson and let us move on..." Riku smiled.

"Well, you got philosophical on me, so, I guess I have no choice," he told the other, who smiled.

"Come on, we don't want to get split up from them."

"This place is beautiful!" said Himitsu.

"Traverse Town is one of the safest worlds, and is the world that most people will go to if their home world is destroyed." Tadashi looked at the area around him, and then towards Sora.

"Is this where the three of you ended up?" he questioned. Sora glanced to the other three.

"No, Riku ended up in Hollow Bastion, and I don't even know where Kairi ended up...I was the only one who made it to this world." The adults tensed.

"So, who found you?" Akira inquired as they continued to walk into the town square.

"Maleficent found me and Kairi..." Sora looked to the others.

"And a woman named Vanessa Drake found me and helped me find what I was looking for...she helped me find Cid Highwind, and also was the reason I ended up finding Donald and Goofy," Sora answered as the others looked at the area around them.

"So...where do we go?" sky-blue eyes looked to chocolate-brown as Himitsu smiled to him.

"Cid's would be a neat place...but one of the best places here is the Treasure Shop...they have all sorts of things," he replied as the group followed Sora towards the Treasure Shop that was up a flight of stairs.

"After that, where else can we go?" Sora and Riku glanced to one another.

"Well...the Second District and the Market District do have some damage...and I really don't think we should go there, but..." Riku shrugged.

"After the Treasure Shop, we can go to the Market and Second Districts," he stated.

"Really? This is going to be fun!" Kairi grabbed Sora's hand and raced towards the staircase, while the others followed the hyper girl and the laughing boy towards the shop.

None of them knew what was about to happen.

 **{Treasure Shop: 10:15am}**

Sora was pulled into the store with the adults, who appeared interested at the scene of the fascinating items that were settled around the interior of the room. However, at the counter, sat Cid Highwind, not Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Sora walked towards the blonde man, who turned his attention up from the book he was browsing through to the boy standing before him. At first he didn't recognize him, and then he started to eye him a bit more and recalled who it was. Riku, Kairi, Akira, Himitsu, and Tadashi jumped when a stool crashed to the floor as the man jumped up and around the counter before he hugged the boy near them. Sora gasped in surprise as Cid picked him up off the ground, he hugged him so tightly. The man continued to hug him until Sora struggled to take in a breath, where he settled him down upon the ground. Sora took in a deep breath and Cid grinned at him.

"Good to see you, kid! You've gotten a _little taller,_ I see!" he said.

"Hi, Cid...good to see you...too..." Kairi giggled a bit.

"Sora! Who are these lovely ladies?" Himitsu laughed.

"I'm Himitsu, Sora's mom," she said. Cid smiled.

"A lady as pretty as you? The mother of that little twerp?" Sora shot him a long look.

"Says the guy who just crushed me with a hug..." Cid frowned.

"Respect your elders!" he stated. Sky-blue eyes rolled just a bit.

"Uhuh...well...I gotta ask, where are Huey, Dewey, and Louie?" Cid looked at the teenager and sighed.

"In Disney Town, tending to the Ice Cream Shoppe. What are you doing here? I heard you and Riku were in a big round-a-bout with the Organization," he explained. Sora gave the shop a once over.

"We were...but it wasn't just a battle with the Organization...it was for our Mark of Mastery exam." Cid looked him and Riku over before his jaw dropped and his cigarette fell to the floor.

"Well, I'll be...Keyblade Masters in this humble shop...never in all my life did I think I'd see another Keyblade Wielder become a Master..." the group looked puzzled.

"What do you mean by that?" questioned Kairi.

"There hasn't been a Keyblade Master since the Keyblade War...King Mickey, and three others..." Sora frowned as he looked at the man.

"So...Riku and Sora are the first Keyblade Wielders in..." Cid smiled.

"Yep, they're the first Keyblade Masters in almost two hundred years," he confirmed.

"We didn't know that..." Sora and Riku looked to one another in confusion.

"Well, Master Yen Sid does have his reasons. He is the Grand Master, and I guess he didn't feel it was necessary," Cid told them as he went around the counter and picked up his book.

"Hmm...that is weird..."

Sora thought on the information for a moment and tried to come up with a reasonable answer as to why he and Riku weren't informed of this until today. Naturally, the two of them knew there were things that wouldn't be told to them until the wizard felt they were prepared to know those specifics; however, there was information – such as this little portion of details – that they would have preferred to know by this point in time. Sora was beginning to wonder if Master Yen Sid would even tell them what a Keyblade Master's full obligation would be. A faint shake of his head dismissed the notion of Master Yen Sid keeping vital secrets as he tried to consider what to do now that he'd learned this.

"The shop is incredible!" said Akira as she looked at a small trinket that was present in the front shelf of the area.

"Oh! Those are World Charms. Sora here made it possible for all of us to travel between worlds, thanks to the adventure he went on when he was just a little sprite..." Sora felt a calloused and sturdy hand muse his hair as he tried to take in the fact that he had just been called a sprite.

 _"Is it a compliment? An insult? Or a drink? Who knows at this point..."_ he thought as Cid laughed.

"So, what's this one?" she questioned. Cid took a look at the acorn charm.

"Oh! That leads to Acorn Valley; it's a funny little world with these animals that walk about like us. Think of what Donald and Goofy are like and consider that to be the entire world...in the addition to the aliens." Sora sighed.

"I wonder how Chicken Little is doing..." he thought aloud.

"Chicken Little?" the boy nodded as he looked to the others.

"He was someone I was able to summon using a sound crystal during my first adventure. We got to be good friends; him, Mushu, Stitch, Tinkerbell, Genie, and Simba...we kinda became a makeshift family during that entire event..." Sora laughed a bit while Riku smirked.

"I remember one of those summons knocking me in the teeth for leaving a scratch on your cheek," he said as he poked the same cheek that had been given a heavy cut almost two years ago.

"Don't poke me! I'm not a five-year-old!" Riku laughed a bit.

"Which summon was it that knocked me in the teeth?" Sora paused as he fought off Riku's arms and thought for a second.

"Oh...that was Mushu...he's overly protective – but with you trying to turn me into chopped liver, I can't say I blame him," he said in half-thought. Cid watched the conversation between the two before he sighed.

"Well, there's a lot of those charms available now-a-days, and we've been able to see everyone again. Cloud and Tifa were here yesterday getting their charms gathered up, and they got some for their adopted kids," Cid stated as he looked to Sora.

"Kids? I didn't know they were parents." The trio of teenagers seemed mighty surprised.

"Yea, it's Denzel and Marlene. They're real cute – twins, from the looks of things...I got to meet 'em for the first time, and I got to catch up with the psychos...say..." the others explored the shop, keeping their ears open as the trio talked with Cid.

"What?" the blonde man frowned.

"Is it true that Cloud and Tifa got involved in that battle you two were in?" he questioned. Sora glanced to the side.

"They did; we didn't call them in, though..." Kairi looked to the man.

"I came with them, alongside a boy named Yui Amane, and Jack Frost...alongside myself was King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy...Tifa, Cloud, and Leon...then Master Yen Sid and Oswald came after..." Sora tensed, suddenly feeling ill.

"Whoa, kid? You okay?" Riku and Kairi looked to Sora, who nodded, despite a suddenly tensed jaw.

"Fine...just feeling a bit sick..." Cid shook his head.

"Hey, I get it, kid – you've been through a lot, and you don't seem to be quite recovered yet, either," he said. Sora glanced down.

"Well, I asked King Mickey if I could bring our parents here because I felt like we needed to get out of the castle for a bit." Cid looked the boy over and sighed.

"Don't have to explain yerself. Go on, looks like yer folks are ready to head off – come back and say goodbye before ya take off back home, ya here?" asked the man.

"Yea, we will!" the trio followed their parents out and Cid looked down in defeat as someone popped up in the shop from a black, smoky-looking portal.

The man was tall but slender in build, but could not be identified, due to his hood. He sighed as he leaned back against the wall, and Cid looked him over with discomfort, before the man glanced his way and held up a blue envelope with a golden wax seal upon it that bore a moon and star crest. Cid sighed as he stood up and walked towards the man, who raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doin' here?" the man held up his hands.

"Whoa, I just was supposed to give everyone from the Coalition this letter, reminding them about the meeting in three months – nothing else!" Cid frowned as he grabbed the letter.

"I really don't trust you former Organization folks...but I guess I got no choice...especially if Master Yen Sid puts his faith in yer lot," he told him. The man sighed.

"Geeze! I'll explain myself in the meeting – King Mickey already accepted his invite..."Cid nodded.

"Is this just fer me? Or do I need to inform the others?" the man seemed to think for a moment.

"I better let you handle it. Otherwise, I won't have my life for long, and I kinda need to keep it," he said.

"Fine, just leave those kids out of it..." the man put his hands up.

"Look, I don't want to put that kid or his friend or his girlfriend in anymore danger than they already are...just come to the meeting; we've got a lot to discuss," he told him.

"What date?"

"September twelfth at four in the afternoon sharp. Try and not be late, that old man gets grumpy when people aren't punctual," he said as he left. Cid groaned as he put the letter away in his pants pocket for the time being.

"Why can't any of us catch a break...even for a moment..."

 **{…..}**

 _I'm scared of change and the days stay the same..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Author's Note: Sorry for not having the update here sooner, guys! I got caught up in trying to get Kingdom Hearts: Genesis up to date and completely neglected this one. No worries...I have much more still! We have 4 chapters left before the end of the story. Well, tell me what you think!

Preview:

"What's going on?"

"Mom! Don't argue with me!"

"Stay close!"

Chapter 14: Stand Still


	14. Chapter 14: Stand Still

Chapter 14: Stand Still

 **{Traverse Town: 11:00am}**

The three adults were taken in by the charm of Traverse Town. It truly was a lovely place; though a bit dim in light, the place had a warm feel to it, and was honestly a place the three of them wouldn't have minded living in. The First District was quaint and comfortable, then there was the Second District that they found quite welcoming, and very entertaining – until they got to the Third District, that is. Sora faintly recanted his first fight with Donald and Goofy as they strolled through the area, and then promptly headed to the market-housing area of the district, where they ran into deep gashes and scrapes along the walls and buried heavily into the cobblestone that told of a struggle. As the six people stood at the mouth of the alleyway, the two now Keyblade Masters stood looking at it in faint distaste, and then, in remembrance.

"I remember I ran into Neku Sakuraba here for the first time," Sora said half-mindedly as he walked along the alleyway, and looked at the cuts.

"Where did these low ones come from?" Tadashi looked at the straight, faintly moon-shaped cuts that were relatively low to the ground, and then to the boys.

"Hey, don't look at me! I was in the Fountain District!" Riku said blatantly.

"Sora?" the boy gave the three adults a sheepish grin.

"Yea...it was my teacup summon..." the three adults looked decidedly flabbergasted.

"Teacup?" the boy scuffled his shoe faintly.

"Uhuh...so...let's go for a walk down moderate memory lane!" the boy took a few steps forward, and Riku rolled his eyes.

"Are you going to show us the summon you used?" he questioned.

"You've used it! We fought with it against Master Yen Sid during the first part of the final trial!" the silver-haired teenager laughed as he walked up to Sora, who rolled his eyes.

"I know, but it's kinda fun. How many of those can you summon?" Sora thought for a moment.

"Three, if I try," he said.

"Huh...well, keep showing us around!" Sora nodded and smiled.

"Follow us!"

Sora acted as the guide while they wandered into the Market District – due to him being the only one out of the trio of Keyblade Wielders who had actually been through most of the town – and pointed out a few places as they continued to go through shops and look at the vendors in the area with simple conversations and stories. Riku and Sora recanted a few details that took place during their adventure through the examination and a few mishaps at the castle thus far. The group of six people turned a corner and then they saw a black cat with a bag in its mouth flying down the street. It had two tails and what seemed to be a small pair of horns atop its head.

The three teenagers eyed it in questioning – wondering whether or not it was a Heartless – as it turned to look in their direction, and then a set of footsteps went off nearby them, causing their gaze to be turned towards the two figures that ran past them. One was a smaller teenager with pale skin, black hair that seemed to have a midnight blue tint to it, and azure eyes. His ears were pointed slightly, and if their eyes weren't deceiving them, he had a tail. The boy had a sword strapped to his back in a red case, a key around his neck on a leather cord; his attire consisted of black pants, a gray-long-sleeved shirt and a black vest, and a pair of red lace-up boots on with white fur around the tops.

"Kuro! Get back here!" the boy called as he ran past Sora and the group.

"Meow!" the six people paused as another boy with brown hair, glasses, green-blue eyes, a freckle under his left eye, and a gun strapped to his waist as he ran after the boy who was chasing the cat.

"Rin! We need to stick with the others! They've never been here before!" he called after the boy.

"If we leave Kuro to run around, we won't be allowed to come back!" the boy known as Rin said over his shoulder as he looked to the other boy.

"Hey! Rin! Don't run too far!" the boy turned to laugh.

"Okay, Yukio! You got it!' With that, the boy vanished around a corner and the brunette sighed.

"Troublesome, huh?" questioned Riku. The boy looked to him.

"Yes, he is, but I do care for him...he's my brother, you see..." Sora crossed his arms over his chest, listening to the conversation and deciding to ask a question.

"You're twins, right?" Yukio eyed him in confusion before momentarily gaping at him.

"H-How did you know that? We're fraternal twins..." Sora laughed a bit.

"Just a guess, you have similar facial features..."

The boy looked him over in questioning as he decided not to think on it any longer and shook his head with a faint laugh while he tried to reason why he and his brother always ended up meeting such interesting people. Sighing, the green-blue-eyed teenager smiled and held out his hand to the silver-haired teen first.

"I won't question it. It's clear you guys are used to looking into detail...I'm Yukio Okumura," he said.

"Riku Hirigaya." The person now identified as Yukio smiled.

"It's a pleasure; now, who are you?" The chestnut-haired teen put his arms behind his head in a pose that Riku had come to notice as a statement of the boy's sarcastic and snarky personality.

"I'm Sora Seiren, nice to meet you," he said as he held a hand out while the other dropped to his side.

"It's good to meet you as well. And the rest of you?"

"I'm Kairi Misaki, and this is my dad Tadashi Misaki," she said.

"Nice to meet you." Yukio bowed slightly.

"My name is Akira, I'm Riku's mother," the silver-haired woman said with a smile as she bowed back a bit.

"I kind of figured – your hair and eyes gave that away." Yukio smiled as the woman returned it, and then he looked to the black-haired, brown-eyed woman next to Akira.

"I'm Himitsu Seiren, Sora's mother," she stated. The teenager seemed surprised.

"Oh...I'm surprised...you seem very young to have a child his age." she laughed.

"I had him very young myself. I was only eighteen," she told him.

"It's nice to meet all of you. I suppose I should be going now...I need to keep up with Rin, he'll get lost if I don't." With that, he waved goodbye and started after his brother in the direction that he had last been seen.

"Well...that was interesting," said Tadashi.

"Traverse Town is a kind of way station...we'll meet all sorts of interesting people when we come here."

"Really? Like who?" Sora turned to walk backwards and looked at the group of five as he tried to think of all the strange people that he had personally met in Traverse Town.

"Well, there's this really nice woman and man named Vanessa Drake and Jacob Talbot, they were the first people I met, Vanessa took me to Cid, from there I met this kid named Luke as I was entering the Second District before I ended up back in District One, where I first met Squall Leonhart, from there, I met Yuffie Kisaragi and Aerith Fair, and finally I met Donald and Goofy...then once I boarded the Gummi Ship, I met Jiminy Cricket," he said in thought.

"That's something else. So, what else did the two of you do during the examination?" Himitsu eyed the deep gouges in the walls.

"Well, we..."

The jovial, peaceful, and comfortable atmosphere was crushed under the omnipresent chill in the air suddenly, as the lights flickered ever so slightly and the world around them fell silent. Sora tensed, his body sensing something wrong with the area as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and a discomforting ache appeared in his bones. Sky-blue eyes narrowed as he looked around, watching the shadows and tensing as he tried to reason what was happening and why it was taking place in Traverse Town – a safe haven for people in the worlds – or why it had chosen to happen right then. However, Sora also was taking note that Riku and Kairi had begun to watch him, studying his body language as he tried to reason what to do.

"Sora?" he shook his head as the question was raised, and suddenly had a sensation of something being behind him.

Sora turned on his heels, acting in instinct and drawing the first Keyblade that came to his mind as a small Shadow Heartless appeared out of nowhere, and he sliced it clean in two. The three adults shielded their eyes at the gleam of light before he looked at Riku and Kairi as he tightened his grip upon Oblivion as he looked to the two others, who nodded as Way to the Dawn and Destiny's Embrace was summoned to their wielders hands. Himitsu tensed, feeling discomfort in the pit of her stomach as she considered what was happening – the children had drawn their weapons and a Heartless had appeared, something was wrong.

"Kairi?"

"Riku?" Akira questioned as her son glanced her way.

"Shush, Sora? What's..."

A foul stench of burning rubber appeared in the area, and almost instantly, they were surrounded by Heartless of all sorts. There were the simple Shadows, a few red, blue, yellow, and green ones with tiny, bird-like feet and curled topped, yellow hats, there were Large Body Heartless, armored ones, and a series of strange human-sized Heartless with long, floor-length, crinkled antennae. The human-sized ones made the three Keyblade Wielders close in around the three adults as they moved towards them. Sora glanced to Kairi and then to Riku and the adults – they were in a less-than-good situation – in fact, the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master would be willing to bet that this was an ambush that they weren't meant to walk out of. A few armor Heartless came forward, and Sora jumped forward with Riku to block them as a few of the others began to make their way forward.

"Kairi! Take your dad! Head to Cid's shop!"

"What? Sora, we can't..." sky-blue eyes hardened.

" _We're splitting up!_ Go where you're told, and take your dad!" he snapped. The girl bit her lip but nodded, coming to him quickly to place a swift kiss to his lips, which he was quick to return as Kairi stepped away.

"Good luck, and be careful! Both of you!" Tadashi gaped momentarily and looked at his daughter.

"Head to Cid, have some back up come in – and then head to the Fountain in the Third District, okay?" she nodded.

"Got it, see you there!"

"Kairi? Where are we..."

"Follow me! We have to split up!" Sora kept himself on guard as he watched Riku look him over.

"Where are we going?" Sky-blue and cyan looked to one another.

"Take your mother and head to the Fountain District, do some crowd control in the east end of District Two if you have too; I'm taking my mom to District Four and we'll round out in the Fountain District. We have to get as far apart as we can – three Keyblade Wielders are attracting too many Heartless and they've probably spread throughout Traverse Town. Get going, Riku! We'll meet up soon!" Sora said as he motioned for his mother to follow him through the hoard and down an alleyway.

"Got it! Good luck!"

"You, too! Move it!" Sora stated as he grabbed his mother's arm in a firm grip and attacked a few of the Heartless as they started to cut through the hoard and head towards the Fourth District.

"Come on, mom! Hurry!" Riku ushered his mother into the area of the Second District.

"What's going on?" Akira questioned.

"We're splitting up to ease the damage done to the area. We'll be meeting up in front of the fountain in the Third District..." she nodded.

"Lead the way," she said.

"Okay!"

 **{District I: 12:02pm}**

Kairi kept her father close as she cut through a series of smaller Shadow Heartless, not liking the fact that the group had been split up because of the attacks taking place. Sora knew what he was doing, and the same went for Riku; however, she never was glad about being away from each other in a fight – if someone got hurt, things could end badly for them. Tadashi stuck with his daughter the entire way through the district and into the first one where she grabbed hold of his arm and tugged him towards Cid's shop, hoping that he would be there.

The man honestly wasn't sure what Cid was going to do or who he would call in for help; however, Tadashi wasn't sure how many other Keyblade Wielders there were in the worlds – or how many worlds were out there, exactly – as he was pushed into the shop by his daughter, and she swiftly followed. The sudden crash of them entering through the doors alerted Cid, who looked up from his book in surprise.

"Kairi? Mr. Misaki? What's goin' on?" Cid asked as he stood up from his spot.

"There are..." Kairi took in a few heaving breaths, trying to get herself calmed enough to breath in.

"Take a second to get yer breath!" he said as he came to her. The fact that her Keyblade was out was enough to cause some concern for the man.

"I-I can't! _Heartless are flooding the streets!_ We need back up!" she said as she dropped to the steps leading down from the door.

"Where are Sora and Riku?" Cid felt fear crawl into his system, hoping that something wasn't happening again.

"We...split up...t-too many...Heartless..." Kairi said as she wiped her brow and took in a deep breath.

"Alright, stay put! I'm callin' in the extra fire power right now!" Cid raced over to the phone and picked it up, knowing who happened to be in Traverse Town or who would be able to get to them in time as he made the call.

"Kairi? Are you okay?" Tadashi asked.

"I'm fine...I've just not ran that hard before..." she smiled to him as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes momentarily.

"Okay, who will Cid call to help you guys?" he questioned. Kairi looked to him in thought.

"Whoever can come the quickest."

Cid heard the phone pick up and instantly began to explain what was happening, only to seconds later receive a quick answer and information regarding two aids that were fast couriers and would get the information to whomever else would need to be informed. The blonde-haired man quickly asked Kairi how bad it was, and she confirmed that the streets were becoming nearly unmaneuverable, to which he nodded and relayed the information to the person on the other line. Kairi took in a deep gulp of air and stood up, knowing that her job was far from over as she looked at the two men in the room.

"They're on the way," said Cid as he looked to Kairi.

"Good, we're going to need all the help we can get." She took in another deep breath and then looked out the window in the First District as a few random Shadow Heartless tottered by.

"How many are out there?" asked Tadashi.

"Only around thirty, from what I can see...but if there are that many in District One, then that means the other districts are overflowing..." she tightened her grasp upon Destiny's Embrace and felt the sharp leather of the grip bite into her hand. Aquamarine eyes looked to the Keyblade, and she momentarily vanished it as she reached into her pants pocket for her gloves.

Kairi still needed to have a visit with the Three Good Fairies to get proper battle equipment; however, Donald had worked a little magic upon her gloves and shoes – boots and sneakers, only – to keep them from wearing down too greatly in battle until she could go and see the fairies. Kairi tugged on the pink-and-black-striped fingerless gloves and latched the black leather buckles at the wrists before flexing her fingers slightly.

"When will they be here?" she asked as she watched the Heartless bramble about outside.

"Knowing them? By the time the three of us have made it to the Fountain in District Three, they'll be carving their way through the hoard." Kairi turned to Cid as she grabbed a hair tie out of her jeans pocket and pulled her hair back into a ponytail and blew her bangs from her eyes.

"Okay, then...Cid? You have a weapon?" she questioned as he patted the small pole at his side.

"This ain't just for show – I can handle myself just fine; between Vincent, Rude, Reno, Yuffie, Tifa, Cloud, and the rest of the gang of psychos, I'll be just fine." Kairi smiled as she looked around.

"Dad? How are you with swords?" he gave her a long look.

"What do you mean by that? You know I've never touched one except when sparring with your mother from before you were born," he said. Kairi nodded as she walked over to a black katana that was lying on a holster.

"Mind if I borrow this?" she looked to Cid, who shrugged.

"S'all the same to me," he stated. She nodded and tossed her dad the sword.

"You'll have to stand in for our sword wielders until they show up." Tadashi took the sword in his hands and took in a steadying breath as his daughter started towards the door.

"Kairi? Are you ready?" asked Cid as he grabbed the pole attached to his waist and prepared to leap into action next to her while Tadashi kept the sword in his grasp, tense as he was while they stood awaiting the Keyblade Wielder's signal.

"Now!" the trio burst from the shop and into the hoard of Heartless.

 **{District IV: 1:20pm}**

Sora had found nothing short of trouble since he split up from Riku and Kairi. The Heartless of the larger variety decided he was a much more interesting target – per the norm – and went after him, leaving the Shadow and Armor Heartless to scamper after his companions and their parents. His mother had kept up for the most part; however, they kept getting cornered, and he was beginning to question how he was going to manage these accursed things without relying upon some of his stronger, less known abilities. As far as he was concerned, though, none of the people he could encounter needed to know that he had lied about a few details to keep some secrets to himself. Sighing, Sora slumped against a wall, while Himitsu looked to him.

"You need to catch your breath," she said.

"I can't just _stop and take a breather!_ There are Heartless everywhere! And I..." Sora took in another deep breath.

"And you need to listen to me," she told him. Her gaze remained on the boy, who vehemently shook his head and took in a deep breath before he stood straight.

"Come on, we need to keep moving." As he started to walk away from the alleyway they had dove into, Sora was stopped by a Large Body Heartless that bounded towards him before rearing back.

"Sora!" Himitsu called to him, and Sora reacted as the Heartless spewed fire at them.

"Reflera!" The fire shot back upon the Heartless, killing it off as he grabbed his mother's wrist and began to run.

"What did you do?" she asked as they cut across a courtyard area and towards another alleyway.

"Reflera; it'll bounce an attack back on something or shield you from it, at the very least..." Himitsu remained quiet for a moment.

"Sora, what are we going to do?" the boy glanced to her.

"I'm going with the only plan I have right now...just keep up!"

Himitsu listened, but she was scared. This was the closest she had ever been to the life that her son lead, and the things she was seeing and experiencing were somewhat frightening to witness. Sora hadn't drawn his Keyblade again since they'd shown up, but he'd relied upon his instincts, physical capabilities, and his own magic in what she could only assume was an attempt to retain some of his strength for when he'd need it most. They had turned multiple corners, rounded off areas, and now they were almost in the direction they needed to be in; however, Sora was showing to be a bit more complicated in his skill than she'd previously thought. The boy's magic usage was not like it had been during their lessons – it was fast, accurate, focused, deadly, fluid, and twice as powerful. They turned another corner and were spat out at a large patio where a clock tower was, and unfortunately, a good fifty or so Heartless.

"Sora?" Himitsu asked him.

"Just stay close..." the woman looked to her son as he held out his right hand and a black Keyblade appeared.

"What is..." he shook his head.

"Not now...we're about to deal with these things...and I need you to stay behind me at all times..." Himitsu frowned.

"Are you kidding?! _That's suicide!_ Sora, you have to find a way around them or something," she said.

"We don't have time to waste, okay? We need to get through here, and if we don't, then we'll be stuck here for who knows how long as nothing but a damn meal ticket for the Heartless!" Himitsu looked him over.

"No, I can't let you just run out there to your death," she told him sternly as Sora turned to her.

"I know how to handle Heartless!" Himitsu took in a deep breath.

"Not this many by yourself, you don't!" she snapped. Sora jumped a bit, his sky-blue eyes darkening to a deep sapphire as he narrowed them.

"In case you've forgotten...I've been dealing with hordes of these things for nearly three years! _I can handle myself!_ I'm a Keyblade Master, dammit! I didn't go through hell and high water to have you tell me I can't do my job!"

"Sora, I know that! You're strong, but I don't think you can handle this many..."

"Mom! Don't argue with me!"

Himitsu fell silent as she looked at the boy in front of her and finally saw all she needed to see. Sora was indeed no longer the little boy she had raised, he wasn't the thirteen-year-old that was shy, quiet, and never talked to anyone outside of his group of friends, he wasn't just the little bookworm who spent most of his days in their library at home, he wasn't the boy who left the islands on a dark, stormy night and became the one chosen by the Keyblade anymore – Sora wasn't weak or afraid anymore. Now, he was strong, brave, sure of himself, capable of backing up the things he said, now the boy who had been so miserable he felt as if he couldn't save himself had saved worlds and thousands of lives with his own two hands. He was grown up, her little boy, the child she loved so much didn't need her the same way he used to: Sora was a warrior, a hero, and a Keyblade Master who proudly bore his battle scars and used his fears and challenges as a means to empower both himself and those around him.

"Okay, show me your plan, Master Sora..." she smiled to assure him, and he smiled in return with a sure nod.

"Stay behind me, and don't at any point get in front of me or to my side. Stay directly at my back, hold onto my jacket, okay? I'm going to get us across this hoard and to the check point," he stated as she nodded.

"Roger that..." Sora nodded as he turned his attention back to the hoard, and Himitsu grabbed onto his jacket.

"Are you ready?" he questioned.

"Yea..." Sky-blue eyes glanced to her.

"Okay, let's go!" the boy in front of her drew a white Keyblade that seemed pure and angelic compared to the dark, gothic one in his right hand, before he started into the fray.

 **{….}**

 _The world is spinning but only in gray...only...Somebody shine a light..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Author's Note: Okay, so, we're done with chapter 14 at last, leaving only 3 chapters before the end of the story! Also, I'd like to state that if you leave a review, you can be notified (if you are signed in) about the upcoming Final Mix editions of the stories.

And, yes, that was Rin, Kuro, and Yukio from the series Blue Exorcist. They will appear again, so keep your eyes pealed for them, and any other cameo that comes up – they will come back.

Well, if you will, leave me long, lovely reviews, my spectacular, amazing, wonderful readers!

Preview:

"So...it looks pretty bad..."

"Do you think they'll be alright?"

"Come on, you bastards!"

"Oh look...Heartless Confetti..."

Chapter 15: Keep Me


	15. Chapter 15: Keep Me

Chapter 15: Keep Me

 **{Traverse Town: 2:13pm}**

There were many things that Sora had trouble with, but Heartless weren't exactly on that list. Himitsu was seeing that first hand as Sora made a path through the shadowy creatures at a quick pace with two Keyblades in his grasps. The woman had seen the boy training, but to an extent, she hadn't known about his ability to dual wield; however, she also wasn't concerned with him right then – she was more concerned with getting to the Third District and to the others, where they could do away with the Heartless. Sora turned on his heels, and she followed the swift, graceful, dance-like motion before he shot a blue, magical bullet from the end of the black Keyblade and then crossed the white one with the black one as he moved them to the right, to only mere seconds later swing, turning once more on his heels and casting an intense wind towards a set of Heartless while they continued to rotate in different directions to cover their bases until they reached the end of the mass and dove into the street.

"Okay, now run!" Sora yelled as Himitsu nodded, and began to pick up speed.

"Where are we?"

"Almost there, just keep running!"

Sora kept both his Keyblades out, and while the pairing may look strange to an outside viewer – what with one looking as if it had descended from heaven, and the other risen from hell – the two Keyblades worked in joining effort to create a powerful duo. Oathkeeper's light guided him, while Oblivion's shadows shielded him, and now it helped him do the same for his mother and soon his friends as they dealt with the Heartless that were invading Traverse Town. Sora and Himitsu turned a corner and landed firmly upon a set of stone stairs, and ended up with a series of the strange, human-size Heartless with long antennae dragging on the ground, and flexing their black, clawed fingers.

"Great... _more Heartless_..." Sora braced the two Keyblades at his sides.

"What are those?" Himitsu asked as she kept behind Sora, as he'd instructed.

"I have no idea...I've never seen a Heartless like that before..." the boy paused as the words forced realization to dawn upon him

 _"This is a new breed of Heartless...where did they come from?"_

One of the strange Heartless jumped forward and instantly struck him across the arm with its claws. Sora jumped, feeling blood drip down his arm as he slowly raised Oblivion to block an attack from one of the new Heartless. Sky-blue eyes narrowed as a single one of them jumped up and dove down just as Sora raised Oathkeeper up, and it lit up with magic before it swung into the air and did a near boomerang-type strike before it came back to Sora and repeated the action as it took out several other Heartless near them, only to once more come back, to Sora who caught it with an outstretched hand as he braced both Keyblades at his back and front, guarding his mother partly, and also keeping himself prepared for an attack.

"Okay, we're almost there, we just have to make it around the corner, and we'll be at the fountain," he muttered in a low tone to his mom, who still had a grip upon his jacket and had nodded.

"Got it..."

"Then let's move!" The two of them ran forward, and Himitsu kept pace with her son as they rounded the corner while Himitsu glanced around for something to help, and her eyes landed upon a scythe settled in a barrel, which she quickly grabbed and held close to her.

 **{District II: 2:40pm}**

Riku cartwheeled away from an exploding Heartless as his mother took to drawing some of the smaller ones towards him with a pair of broken sticks she'd found in a bin. Akira refused to let Riku deal with this alone; however, she knew that the boy could handle himself. Her son was a Master, and she trusted his skill – that didn't mean she couldn't help him, though. Akira drew more attention to the Heartless as she clacked the pieces of wood together and allowed Riku to take out the number of Heartless as they finally managed to slip towards the street entrance and down the road to the fountain, where they saw Sora and Himitsu trying to stave off the Heartless that had begun to swarm inwards again. As soon as a Large Body Heartless bounded towards them, Sora raised up both his Keyblades, and they lit up with a rush of energy before the boy vanished.

 _"What the fuck?!"_ thought Riku as he darted forward, and the chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old stopped not far behind the Heartless, Keyblade outwards, held in place with a pose Riku remembered.

 _"Why won't you join me?! We can help Kairi!" the boy darted forward._

 _"You've been taken over by the darkness, Riku! You don't even want to help Kairi! You just want to be in control of everything! You've lost your heart!"_

 _"You're a fool, Sora! You don't know what you're talking about – you useless, foolish boy!"_

 _"Riku...that's not you talking...so...I'm going to stop you, because you're my best friend..." in an instant, a sharp, burning pain spread through him._

 _"What have you done?!" he glared, and the boy turned eyes full of tears to him._

 _"I'm sorry, but I'd rather lose my friend this way than lose him to the Darkness..."the Keyblade, once white, was now soaked with blood, causing the teeth to drip in the liquid._

 _"S-Sora?" the boy looked at the other and took in a deep breath._

 _"It's okay...just don't give up on everything you hold dear to your heart..."_

Riku remembered the ability known as Rave that did him in during his time under the control of the darkness. Sora had dealt him a fatal blow with Oathkeeper, the Keyblade he had in his grasp now – Kairi's Heart – and turned him away with Oblivion, Sora's own Heart. The silver-haired teen looked upon the Keyblade Master near him and smiled as he jumped into the fray, while his mother went to help Himitsu. It wasn't a minute later that Kairi, Tadashi, and Cid arrived, and a loud series of crashes came through the town that sounded strangely familiar. Sora laughed as he turned on his heels and cut down a few Heartless while Kairi joined in with the two boys, who assisted in blocking several of the creatures as Kairi jumped and landed a crushing blow to one of the new Heartless.

"Sora? What's that noise?" asked Riku as he looked to the area where a series of loud crashes went off.

"It's a storm and some torrential cumulus making some havoc with Shadows..."

"Um...English please?" the silver-haired Keyblade Master inquired.

"Squall and Cloud are here...which means..."

"HIYA, BOYS!" the trio of Keyblade Wielders and the three parents looked up to see a girl with short black hair in black knee high sneaker-boots, black pants with white lining, a black and white floral print shirt, black armbands, and a black vest. The shorts showed her legs, and the shirt her stomach; however, Sora could only sigh before grinning broadly as this one person, and several others came onto the scene.

"Yuffie!" he yelled back.

"Sora! Riku! Good to see you two boys! Care for some help?" Yuffie saluted.

"I'm going to need you to help keep an eye on our parents," stated Sora as he turned to look at her.

"Okay, then tell the rest of the bunch what to do!"

With that Yuffie removed the shuriken from her back and started towards the adults. As the three Keyblade Wielders set to work on the Heartless, more people began to fall from the sky around them. A brunette-haired man with turquoise eyes landed on the ground, holding a large gun-like sword, a woman with black hair and brown eyes in dark colored clothes, a blonde man with cobalt eyes holding a broadsword, a man in a red cloak with long black hair, and two other youths, a black-haired, midnight-blue-eyed youth with white skin, and a girl with short brown hair with a pair of black shorts, a blue-half skirt, and a white top with pink trim appeared.

"So...it looks pretty bad..." muttered Squall.

"Bout time you got here! I was startin' ta wonder!" called Cid playfully.

"We're not here to report to you!" the black-haired youth called out in a tone that suggested he was laughing inside, despite his efforts.

"Who's reporting in?" Sora shouted as Riku hit a stop spell upon several Heartless, and the parents watched as Sora stood in front of the group as they prepared their weapons while several Heartless began to form slowly from the shadows.

"Depends, who's asking?" questioned the brunette girl.

"Master Sora Seiren..." the girl squeaked a bit in surprise.

"And Master Riku Hirigaya," the silver-haired teen stated.

"Sounds good to me..." the group lined up side by side with the Keyblade Wielders as Yuffie and the brunette girl stood to the side to guard their parents.

"Squall Leonhart." A Gunblade was swung.

"Cid Highwind." The blonde man raised up the spear in his grasp.

"Yuffie Kisaragi!" Kunai shuriken spun.

"Yuna Mireen!" two guns were raised.

"Tifa Lockhart..." the girl picked up a pair of knives from her leg straps.

"Cloud Strife." A large buster-sword swung to the side briefly in preparation for battle.

"Vincent Valentine..." a gauntlet-clad arm clinked ever so slightly.

"Noctis Caelum reporting!" a sword was risen.

"Good, take out the Heartless, and protect the civilians!"

Without another word, the group went after the Heartless as if they were taking to the battle field during a grand war. Sora jumped in with Riku and Kairi at his side as the Heartless were taken down as swiftly as they could come. The trio of Keyblade Wielders varied in their skillset of magic and attacks, with Riku and Sora being the most experienced. Blue spirals of magic formed around Sora as he cast a spell towards the Heartless, and it destroyed them as he allowed the magic to be wrapped around his form while he turned, mid-step, and tagged Riku upon his shoulder as he turned to where his back faced him. In a matter of seconds, the two Keyblade Masters had activated their joint attack that assisted in destroying several of the Heartless. Noctis and Yuna were quite honestly surprised, having never seen the attack before, by the sheer force and power of it.

"Come on, you bastards!" Riku called out as he dodged a few of the Heartless and continued on with his dual attack alongside Sora.

They had both heard Master Yen Sid state that Sora and Riku had used a special ability known as the Limit Break Eternal Sessions, but to see it, the group was left near speechless as the boys touched back down and automatically set off to attacking with solo strikes. Noctis focused on his magic, knowing that the two Keyblade Masters, and a third Keyblade Wielder who happened to be a Princess of Heart, could more than likely handle the Heartless alone. Yuna jumped in beside him, and he thanked her as they went about their route with Cloud and Tifa not far behind them, as Squall and Cid brought up the rear, and Vincent played secondary guard to the three Keyblade Wielders.

"Light!"

Sora cast a spell and the Heartless scattered as he grasped both his Keyblades in his hands and allowed the magic to cover his form before he jumped into the air.

Seconds later, he was darting at a near-blinding speed towards several of the Heartless, turning them into fragments within the blink of an eye. Riku had never seen the boy use the technique before; however, he supposed that Sora had a good reason to not have said anything about some of his own skillset. Kairi did her best to stay clear of any open range attacks, but at the same time, she knew better than to steer too far from anyone in the group if Vincent had anything to say about it – Kairi wouldn't need to worry about that.

As the children and their companions fought, Himitsu, Akira, and Tadashi rested behind Yuffie, who was watching closely, with Yuna jumping between helping Noctis and guarding the others when needed. The three adults were silent, pale, and frightened as they watched their children and these people they knew by name and called allies go toe-to-toe with the hoard of Heartless storming after them. Himitsu eyed the people, seeing that most of them had already received injuries of some kind, and then she turned her eyes to Sora as he used a powerful ability to take out several of them at once.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" questioned Tadashi as he watched the children, but tried to remain on guard for the sake of the situation they were in.

"I wouldn't be worried, Sora can handle them, and Riku isn't a pushover either..." Yuffie said.

"How do you know them?" the woman laughed.

"I met Sora in Traverse Town when he ended up here back when all this started, and every time since then. Name's Yuffie Kisaragi, the Great Ninja! But you can just call me Yuffie; I'm a friend of Sora and Riku's, so I'll do all I can to help ya out!" she said.

"So...you're Yuffie...you're the one who taught Sora some of his techniques." the woman grinned broadly as she blocked several Heartless, and then looked at the group.

"Yea, but the kid said you put him in self-defense classes a few years back...he was a natural...don't worry..."

"YUFFIE! GET THEM TO THE HIGH GROUND!" called Cloud as he turned his attention to her and the trio of adults.

"Got'cha! Just focus on helping Sora!" The three adults were ushered away by Yuna and Yuffie, who both seemed concerned by the fact that several of the Heartless were overpowering some of their fighters. It was as they reached the top of the staircase that a bloom of flame appeared as a form stood up and blew out a few of them that clung to his black-gloved hand.

"Yeesh! That's the last time I listen to that flame-brain..." the red-haired man said as he fixed his goggles atop his head as he pushed his bangs back a bit. The man had tan skin, red tattoo lines at the sides of his eyes, slightly across his cheekbones, and a few strands of his wild, yet oddly tamed fire-red hair hanging in his face. He wore a black dress suit, a gray button-up shirt, leather gloves, and what seemed to be black boots – possibly dress shoes – with leather gloves.

"Watch it!" the red-haired man put his hands up as a pair of black and white Keyblades teeth locked onto each side of his throat as he stared down at the person who had him within an inch of knocking on Death's door.

The boy was lithe, rather small for his age – which he assumed was around fifteen or sixteen – his skin was lightly-tanned, hair messy, but a sharp chestnut color that would probably gleam with an array of golds, reds, silvers, and oranges if he was in direct sunlight. Lastly was the thing that had the man on edge out of all the features he was taking in – his eyes. They were the most intense, beautiful, soul-piercing shade of sky blue he had ever seen, and to be blunt, it unnerved him when he assumed that the boy would have a rather kind and gentle disposition to his features and form if not for being in a battle. The red-haired man gulped as he looked at him.

"Who in _the fuck are you?"_ he snarled as the teeth of his Keyblades sunk into his throat.

"I'm Reno Rolands! A teammate to Cloud and the others!" the boy kept his eyes on him, and he tried to smile slightly.

"You remind me of someone I don't trust..." Reno laughed.

"Haha...sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders...um..." the boy stepped back.

"Sora, my name is Sora Seiren." The boy's answer hand Reno swallow thickly as he realized who he was looking at.

 _"So...this is the Keyblade Master everyone told me about...I wasn't expecting someone this small, but damn, the energy that came off him nearly knocked me over...I guess I should count my blessings that I still have my life...and my head..."_

"Nice to meet you, Master Sora, I came to help...besides...Master Yen Sid wouldn't let me be until I came to help..." the boy looked to him with a bland expression.

"You're the kinda guy that annoys the fuck out of me..." With that, the boy walked away.

"Blunt little bastard, isn't he?" asked Reno as he stepped into line beside Cid.

"When he wants to be – kid's actually really sweet-natured, but he's tense because his mom is here, and she's the only family he's got." the red-head hummed.

"Ya don't say..." Reno looked to Sora and then sighed.

"So, get a move on! We have work to do before these things..."

"LOOK OUT!" Not seconds later, Sora came dropping out of the sky in a somersault with a blast of magic from his Keyblades that shot black and white energy around the mass of Heartless near Reno and Cid. The boy landed in a crouch and took off towards them, running by as if the attack had been nothing. As the red-haired man stood there, a few black particles fell from the area around them, and he blew one that came a little too close out of the way.

"Oh...look...Heartless Confetti," Reno said in half thought as he shrugged.

"Hey! Cherry-Porcupine!" the red-head man gaped as Sora looked at the group, and Reno noticed he was the only one standing out away from the group that seemed as if they were preparing to attack.

"Whoops!" the boy turned his attention to the remaining Heartless.

"Hit them all together! Don't let up until there are none left!" Sora called out to the group, who raised their weapons, prepared to attack.

"We're ready..." Riku nodded.

"When we say fire..." he stated as everyone lined up with their weapons, and Reno summoned his spear.

"Okay!" the group stated as Sora raised his Keyblade up.

"Ready!" called Riku.

"Aim!" weapons rose up.

"Fire! The two Keyblade Masters declared the attack.

The Third District flared with color, light, and sound that almost reminded the group of cannon fire as metal crashed against stone as the more physical members of the group launched into the fray, while Yuna and Noctis attacked with a series of spells that reflected the attacks back at the Heartless as Sora, Riku, Kairi, Cloud, and Squall attacked in the midst of the magical strikes. Reno kept shooting out strikes of electrical magic as he kept his eyes upon the three Keyblade Bearers. He had heard stories from the others occasionally about the strength of the Keyblade Wielder they'd met almost two years ago, but he'd never met the boy, unlike all the others in the World Tree Coalition. Each and every one of them had run into the boy at some point or another and either fought alongside him or against him. Reno had only glanced at the boy from a distance – until now, that is. Sora was agile, graceful, accurate, and a mesmerizing thing to watch in combat compared to some others he'd seen. Riku was less graceful, but he did have a sort of style and rough grace that was all of his own design. Kairi was like a butterfly in many ways – she was swift, gentle, but at the same time showed the coldness of beauty as she tore through the surviving Heartless. Reno was stunned, and as the Heartless vanished, he could only whoop in excitement.

"Oh my sweet Bahamut! That was fucking epic! You three are fucking boss!" Reno screamed as he looked at the trio.

"You are a real pain in the ass!" Sora snapped back as he looked at the man.

"And you're a foul-mouthed runt!" Riku gulped as he looked to Reno.

"Did you..." the three adults started down the stairs with Yuffie, while Sora vanished Oathkeeper and looked at the redhead.

"Uh-oh..."

"Call me..." Kairi shook her head.

"Oh dear..."

"A _runt?_ "

Reno realized all too late that he had made a fatal mistake. Sora swung the Keyblade out, and it gleamed with midnight blue energy before the boy posed it to strike and came forward in a motion that honestly startled the red-haired-man. The group of fourteen watched Reno run in circles to try and evade Sora, who was never far behind him as he set out a series of spells and attacks that Reno bare dodged as the others began to laugh, knowing that outrunning the boy would be nothing short of impossible. Reno learned that the hard way, when lo and behold, the boy struck him and Reno fell to the ground, only moments before he realized that he had ended up with the boy loosing something. Reno, who had a long ponytail, now had short hair, and Sora was holding the once-attached chunk of hair.

"You fiend! What the fuck was that for?" Sora tossed the hair over to Reno.

"Because no one calls me little, you dumbass!" he said as he propped Oblivion on his shoulder.

"Could someone have warned me about this _psychotic kid?!_ It would have been nice!" Reno whined as he removed his goggles and brushed his fingers through his hair.

"Quit whining, it'll grow back..." the group turned to Cloud, who was leaning against a wall near them with his arms crossed over his chest. Reno turned his eyes to the blonde.

"YOU TWO ARE RELATED! I SWEAR IT!" the group laughed as Tifa eyed Cloud and then looked to Sora.

"How can you say that? Cloud and I don't look alike," Sora stated.

"Well, the hair might be what's got Reno saying that." Tifa watched Sora tug faintly on a single piece of his hair that had an errant spike that was pointed in an odd angle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about..." Squall laughed a bit.

"Okay, the six of you are tired; time to send you back home," he said.

"We just got here! No way we're leaving now!" It was as the Keyblade Wielders agreed that a small white bat appeared from the sky.

"Delivery for Masters Sora Seiren and Riku Hirigaya!" he called out in a faintly scraggly voice that broke every time he spoke. The group turned their attention to him.

"Who are you?" the bat sat down upon the low wall of the fountain and sighed.

"I'm Bartok! Courier for Master Yen Sid; now, who's Masters Sora Seiren and Riku Hirigaya?" the chestnut-haired teenager stepped towards the white bat.

"I'm Master Sora Seiren, I'll take it," he said.

"Good, please sign here..." the bat produced a small pen and notebook before holding it out to Sora.

"Alright...thank you, Bartok, now, would you like to fly with us back when we leave?" he asked. The little white bat smiled.

"I appreciate the offer, but I need to do a few more deliveries. Ciao for now!" With that, the little bat handed off the letter and took off into the skies.

"That was odd..." Noctis laughed.

"That's one of our couriers, Bartok. He's been working with us for a long time," the black-haired youth stated.

"Oh...okay..." Sora looked at the letter and turned it over before he froze.

"Sora?" asked Kairi.

"It's from Master Yen Sid..." the boy opened it and looked to the contents inside.

 _Dear Masters Sora Seiren and Riku Hirigaya,_

 _I was informed by King Mickey that you've wanted to go to Traverse Town. I know you believe you're prepared to take care of yourself and manage well enough...I do not believe this to be a wise choice – please return to Disney Castle immediately..._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Master Yen Sid._

"Oh boy..." the others looked to Sora.

"What is it?" asked Kairi while Riku eyed the other boy.

"Let me guess...we need to head back to Disney Castle, don't we?" the boy nodded.

"Uhuh...and I don't think Master Yen Sid is happy..."

 **{….}**

 _I'm frozen by the fear in me. Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Author's Note: There is a Nomura moment – several, in fact – in this chapter. Can you pinpoint them? Well, tell me what you guys think; we are down to the final 2 chapters, so be prepared for some ups and downs as everything comes to a close, and the parents prepare to say goodbye to their children.

Preview:

"What am I to do with you? Boy?"

"Sora, come on. Please? What's wrong?"

"Funny...I was about to say the same thing..."

Chapter 16: Next To Your Heart


	16. Chapter 16: Next To Your Heart

Chapter 16: Next To Your Heart

 **{Disney Castle: May 14th 2013, 7:00am, King's Study}**

Sora and Riku were alone with Master Yen Sid,and were receiving a long lecture. Both the boys had hoped that the King could suade the wizard from giving them to severe a scolding for requesting to go out into another world with their injuries not fully healed, wounds still present, and three unarmed people with them; however, they knew it was a feeble attempt at pacifying the currently irate former Keyblade Master. It wasn't as if Sora hadn't requested this, and while the King had agreed, the boy felt as though he was being scolded because he shouldn't have done such a thing knowing the state Kairi, Riku, and himself were still in. Cloud had recovered, as had Tifa, Squall, and the others present in the battle -not that he had account of Jack or Yui for the time being – but their wounds were nothing like the three Keyblade Wielders. Sora flinched as he heard Master Yen Sid pause and glare down at him and Riku.

"In all my years, I have never seen someone choose to put themselves in such blatant danger," he said.

"Master Yen Sid, we asked permission – and were under the assumption that King Mickey had received your approval, or that it was not required for this...we didn't..." Master Yen Sid glared.

"The two of you are Masters now! You cannot merely wander about without propper precaution. Cid Highwind was capable of getting you assistance; however, that may not always happen, and you must be prepared at all times! You both were not!" he stated in a stern tone.

"We know...sir, Riku wasn't even aware of this...it's my fault..." the wizard looked to Sora.

"Riku? I'll speak with you later – I must talk with Sora alone," he said.

"Yes, Master Yen Sid." Riku placed a hand upon Sora's shoulder and left the room as Sora took in a steady breath and kept his eyes down.

"What am I to do with you? Boy?" the sixteen-year-old looked to the aged wizard.

"Excuse me sir?" he asked. Master Yen Sid sighed.

"I was incorrect in stating that I had never come across a person as wreckless, troublesome, or mischevious as yourself, Sora Seiren...there was one other," he stated.

"Oh...um...I don't exactly mean to..." the wizard frowned.

"You mean very well to do the things you do. That boy and you are very much alike – perhaps a bit to much – and at times, I wonder about what it would be like if he had lived," the wizard said.

"Your talking about your former student aren't you?" the wizard looked to Sora.

"Yes, and might I add – you have the same fire that he did...often, I question my choice to stay at a distance during your first adventure..." the boy stepped back a bit.

"You were watching me? The whole time?" the wizard turned to look at the fireplace.

"Not constantly, but someone always was keeping an eye on you. King Mickey couldn't tell you the prophecy; however, I knew you would need to know...still..."

Sora looked down as the wizard paused and the former Keyblade Master looked at the youth before him. There were days that he found himself feeling nostalgic and he would hope to speak to Sora because of his similarities with the boy he had tried to protect and raise like his own child. Often, he would visit Zack Fair and his wife Aerith in Daybreak Town, and reminesce with them over the fond years; however, those days were gone, and their present days were growing darker, and much more dangerous -thus his mind and heart needed to be with the Keyblade Bearers that were stepping forward to smight the darkness just as their forebearers had.

" Master Yen Sid, how come no one said anything to me about the prophecy?" the wizard turned to him.

"Because, you entered Castle Oblivion – a place that nearly destroyed you in the process of you seeking information on Organization Thirteen, and as fate would have it...you also ended up loosing yourself within those white walls...if it wasn't for Mina..." Sora froze.

"How did you know?" Master Yen Sid sighed.

"Because, I had an informant within the walls of Castle Oblivion. Sora, there is much more at stake than just Xehanort's death...if Xehanort wins the upperhand in the coming months...possibly within the next few years even...he will destroy everything we hold dear," he stated.

"I know...um...Master Yen Sid, if I can ask...who is the student you keep comparing me to?" he inquired. The Master turned to the boy.

"Do you truly want that answer?" sky-blue eyes glanced to the side, and then to the wizard.

"Yes, if I'm so much like him, I'd like to know who he was and why you look so sad when you look me in the eyes," the boy told him.

Master Yen Sid looked down, contemplating how to go about this as he considered his options, and then he looked at the boy. He had such kind, and honest eyes, willing, trusting, and certain of his question and choice. The aged wizard took in a deep breath, and looked to the boy standing before him, and cleared his throat while the boy waited quietly.

"It's been many years ago, and long before you were born that I taught this young man how to be a Keyblade Wielder, and later, I would prepare him for his Mark of Mastery Examination, which he would pass and ascend to the status of a Master..." Sora thought for a moment.

"That's amazing. Do you remember the Keyblade he used?" asked Sora as the Master smiled.

"I do, but out of respect, I dare not utter the name." the boy nodded.

"So...who was he?" the boy inquired, looking to him with sincere curiosity apparently in his bright sky-blue eyes.

"The boy's name..." the wizard tensed.

"Yes sir?"

"Was Soren..."

Master Yen Sid watched the boy's expression go from curious to horrified in a matter of seconds as he started backing away from him with fear evident in his eyes. The boy's body tensed, preparing to attack, and his eyes started to well up with tears that the wizard was certain the boy wasn't aware of as he looked onward at him as if he had been betrayed in the worst means imaginable. Until the child was against the door, he backed away and then he froze, seemingly paralized by the thoughts that continued to race through his mind. Master Yen Sid approached him, and kept himself non-threatening as the boy took in a shaky breath.

"Stop!" the boy put his hands up as he slowly tried to press himself as far into the door as he possibly could.

"What's the matter? Sora? Are you feeling well?" Master Yen Sid was not aware of the reason behind the boy's reaction, and it quite honestly worried him.

"I..."

"Come here, tell me what is troubling you..." in an instant the wizard met a shield. Sora had put up a relfera shield and kept stern eyes upon the man as he looked up.

"Just stay away from me!" the boy yelled as he retched the door open and ran as fast as he could, using a speed technique to race his way through the corridors faster than what the wizard could do in his age.

"Master Yen Sid? Is everything okay? I heard someone yell," inquired King Mickey.

"Sora...I was speaking with him, and he...Himitsu? Please take Kairi and go retrieve the boy." Himitsu and Kairi nodded and went after Sora.

"What's happening?" asked Riku.

"We were discussing a former student of mine, and the moment I stated his name, Sora began to panic. Please, Riku? Can you explain why?" the mouse King and the silver-haired Keyblade Master had never seen the wizard so perplexed by a situation like this before.

"He reacted to a name? I don't know why he would honestly do that Master Yen Sid...unless..." King Mickey looked to Riku.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Master Yen Sid? Was the student's name Soren?" the wizard rose his eyebrows in surprise – a rare sight upon the wizard's face.

"How did you know such a thing?" he inquired as Riku looked to him and the King.

"Because, several of the Organization members – a man named Xigbar being the main one – kept calling him Soren during the events of the Dream Drop, but...I think the reason he remembers it is because it was almost immediately..."

"Riku, you are his Dream Eater – please, make sure he's well."

"Of course, excuse me," Riku said as he took off in the direction Himitsu and Kairi had gone.

"Did you do the right thing?" asked King Mickey.

"Only time will tell – he has his own demons to battle...all we can do is be his armor when he needs it."

 **{Wielder's Hallway: 8:00am}**

Himitsu and Kairi had come to the hall of their living quarters, and encountered Sora holding up the Keyblade known as Oblivion as he backed away from them onto to bolt into his room and lock the door from the inside. The two of them had tried coaxing him out, but he had remained silent as Riku managed to catch up with them, and looked at the scene of the two women standing there tapping on the door, speaking softly, and discussing options for him that they hoped would get him to come out.

"Sora, come on. Please? What's wrong?" there was no reply.

"He won't come out?" asked Riku as they turned to him.

"No, he hasn't said a word either..." cyan eyes looked the door over.

"I can open the door with the Keyblade, but I'm guessing we best be prepared for who knows what when we get in there," he stated.

"Riku, I'm a nurse,I can help him..." the silver-haired Keyblade Master nodded.

"Okay then..."

He summoned Way to the Dawn, and looked to the door before with a faint tap of the Keyblade it opened and a book came flying out of the room – nearly missing them in the process as they heard a faint growl present. Riku glanced into the room and saw the boy in the corner of the room, looking over the other edge of the bed as he glowered at him in a menacing fashion. Himitsu was the first to push past Riki and Kairi and the two kenw why – if Sora hurt one of them by accident, he would never forgive himself. Himitsu approached the boy who snarled at her and backed himself into a corner as he narrowed his eyes and began to scream at her to leave him alone to the point that both Riku and Kair were certain he would lose his voice for a bit while Himitsu went to grab him, and he began to struggle until the woman pulled out a syringe, and instantly jabbed it into his arm before pushing down the stopper.

"Sora?" the boy pushed weakly at her, tears well into his eyes as he looked directly to her.

"Leave me alone...please..." Kairi felt her heart ache as she ran into the room and came to the boy who looked to her in a state that his eyes seemed hazy, and his gaze almost like that of a blind person – looking in her direction, but never really seeing her. Kairi reached out and wrapped her arms around him as he started to feel the effects of the medication Himitsu had injected.

"I hate doing this, but he was in hysterics," she stated as Kairi felt him go limp in her grasp.

"Riku? Can you help me?"

"Sure..."

Riku worked fast to get Sora settled onto his bed, and removed the boy's shoes before making sure to take off his jacket and gloves as he laid down and Kairi kicked off her own shoes, and laid down next to the boy. Sora looked a bit flushed in the face,and that caused Himitsu some concern as she mentioned she'd return shortly, and left the room with Riku and Kairi watching over the boy. Kairi didn't have to touch Sora at all to tell he was running a fever from the state of panic he had driven himself into;however, she didn't speak as she left the medical details up to his mother, and remained by his side, brushing his bangs from his face gently as she grasped his hand in a gentle manner. Riku smiled as he watched the girl and then looked to Sora who despite the flush to his cheeks, seemed to be breathing rather calmly,and resting in a peaceful manner now.

"What would have done this to him? He was fine, Riku..." Kairi stated slightly as she leaned over a bit to where she could rest her head atop Sora's.

"Something Master Yen Sid mentioned, but he hadn't known about this...I don't even think you know about it..." Himitsu entered the room with a smaller first-aid kit,and looked at the three of them as she felt of Sora's forehead, and checked his pulse while Kairi remained silent.

"Sora's running a pretty high fever, but with some sleep and a day or two of recovery he should feel better soon. Kairi? Do you mind staying with him?" Himitsu asked.

"No, I'll be okay..." she glanced to Himitsu as she moved down to where she could lay next to the boy, and Riku sighed.

"I'll check in every few hours," he said.

"Thanks...and Riku? Kairi? I have to know – what caused this?" cyan eyes looked to aquamarine and chocolate brown.

"I'm afraid, that I'm the only one who knows about this..." Riku stated half-heartedly.

"What are you talking about?" the silver-haired Keyblade Master glanced down.

"When we were in the Dream Drop – Xigbar, an Organization member – kept calling Sora this other name, taunting him on and on about how he was trying to coax something from inside Sora out – that something or someone was hiding inside of Sora...I know Sora can harbor other's hearts, and heal them...but...he was struggling with this the entiretime..." he said.

"So this...Xigbar? He wanted to just mess with Sora's head?" Himitsu as positive of this as was Kairi until Riku shook his head.

"I know better...he wasn't playing mind games...the things he said – they were to pinpoint the fact that Sora was somehow connected to this one guy that he kept mentioning..." Riku paused, and Himitsu frowned.

"Riku? What's wrong?" asked Kairi.

"Sora, no matter how many times he tried to tell him otherwise couldn't persuade Xigbar to call him by his actual name...he kept calling him someone else."

"Who?" questioned Himitsu.

"Someone named Soren..." Himitsu took in a deep breath.

"And this triggered a hysteria attack this bad?" Riku looked to Sora and then to Kairi and Himitsu once more.

"Master Yen Sid told Sora that Soren was his former student that he always compared him to," he explained. It took only moments for Himitsu to take a deep breath and walk away from the bed.

"I'm going to go and see if Donald has anything for nightmares – he'll probably have them for a bit, and he'll need rest." with that she left, and Kairi looked to Riku.

"Whose Soren though?" Riku shook his head.

"Other than the fact that he's a former student of Master Yen Sid's? I have no idea."

 **{King's Study: 10:00am}**

Akira, and Tadashi were exploring the castle library while Himitsu and their children helped with Sora, but Himitsu wasn't with her child or theirs any longer – she was marching down the long hallway, and directly to the King's study where she knew that both the King and Master Yen Sid would be present. The woman was a kind person, a truly gentle, caring, forgiving soul – but no one, no matter who they were: messed with her child. King Mickey and Master Yen Sid were having a conversation pertaining to a few details given to them by Squall about the Heartless fight in Traverse Town the day prior when she burst through the double doors with an irate look upon her face.

"Yen Sid!" she snapped.

"Yes, miss Seiren?" the woman slammed the doors shut and got directly to the two males with an expression that could have disintegrated them both on the spot.

"You said his _name!_ In front of Sora?! Do you know what you could have done?!"

"Himitsu..."

"I was asked to care for him, and here you go putting him in even more danger! He didn't want this for him!"

"Himitsu..."

"I know that this is his life now, but there are some lines that..."

"Himitsu Seiren!" bellowed Master Yen Sid. The woman froze.

"What?!"

"I understand you are upset; however, I was not aware of the Organization doing such a thing. If I had known, I would have changed the subject, and never said a word to Sora about him," Master Yen Sid stated.

"I just...the person I promised I would look after Sora for wanted him to be safe,lead a normal life...not...not this! No magic, no wars, no other worlds, no secrets...just a normal boy, from a little island world..." Himitsu felt her eyes burn.

"I'm aware of that; however, fate clearly has other plans in store for Sora, and those around him," Master Yen Sid stated.

"I know, and I'm proud of him...but...to think my son, the child I raised is going off into something like this...it hurts, because I know I can't take his place, and I can't be there..." King Mickey smiled.

"Sora is strong, and he can handle himself. He just needs to finish healing," he assured her.

"Post traumatic stress disorder isn't something you heal from...you cope with it. Unless something can take that from him...Sora will always live with the results of the Dream Drop – he'll never fully heal from the pain and suffering he endured."

"That child is stronger than you know – if he needs to, he can, and will topple anything that chooses to stand in his way. He has the heart of a warrior, and the compassion of a king," Master Yen sid stated as Himitsu felt tears well up in her eyes.

She had kept them inside for so long. For every time she had seen Sora's scars, treated his wounds, forced him awake during a night terror, watched him summon the Keyblade, take a deep breath, brush off an injury and walk away – for every time she had to see him smile in a manner that only proved to her how truly sorrowful, lonely, and broken he was by the things he'd had to endure. And, for the moments when she still saw the little boy she'd woken up one june morning, unaware that his life would be forever changed at seven o'clock that night when he rowed off into stormy seas, and became the one destined to save the worlds from a man so vile, black-hearted, and desimated by his own greed, lust, and thirst for power that nothing but death could save him.

Himitsu finally cried, and King Mickey comforted her, Master Yen Sid comforted her, and she let herself feel all her pains, and woes for the things that would never come back. The shy, timid, quiet boy who could never reach out beyond his shell, and the days where she would find him laughing, playing with his friends and other times find him asleep on the sofa in their library, having fallen asleep reading another book that had snagged his attention. Himitsu would never see that boy again, the one who would talk about something of great value, and meaning in a tone that suggested he was happy, but he was isolated, and found his own comfort there. That boy was never going to return, but it would be okay. Himitsu had prepared herself for the day that Sora would leave the islands, and possibly never returned, and while she had never expected it to be that day of all days: it was going to be okay.

"Thank you..." she cried.

"Sora's fortunate to have such wonderful people surrounding him no matter what world he may be in," Master Yen Sid stated.

"Funny...I was about to say the same thing..."

For the first time, in nearly two years, Himitsu could truly let go – and while she had tried many times, and told herself she had, this time spent with Sora, told her everything she needed to know: it was time to let him go, and one day, he would return, and everything would be okay.

" _Just keep me next to your heart...and I'm never far."_

 **{….}**

 _So cut me from the line, dizzy, spinning endlessly..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: So, there are some heavy hints in this chapter – can you find them? If you do, please PM me so not to spoil it for the other readers okay? We have 4 chapters left in this story, so belooking for the next title in the series.

No worries, Genesis will be continued! All 70 chapters of it! No fear!

Preview:

"So, it's time for you guys to go?"

"Everything's going to be okay."

"Why do I get the distinct feeling that we have a long adventure coming?"

Chapter 17: Eyes Never Closing


	17. Chapter 17: Eyes Never Closing

Chapter 17: Eyes Never Closing

 _I have this dream over and over again – but it's never in the same place. It's a person I know in a place I've never seen. The person is a boy around my age with messy honey-blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes. He has a bright smile, a sarcastic attitude, and seems to know me. The first time I met him, we were walking down a beach, just having a casual conversation about something I don't even remember now, but it was familiar, like I'd known him my entire life, even though I'd never laid eyes upon him before. This boy, the one who seemed to be messing with my dreams since January of this year, the month I finally woke up from a year of slumber because of Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy...was able to only give me his name once._

 _His name is Roxas._

 _He's from another world, but I think I know him from somewhere. However, every time I try and ask him where he's from, something happens: Heartless attack, and he fights alongside me with his Keyblade, one I've never seen before either – seeing how many worlds are out there, it's not hard to imagine – and acts as if he knows my movements just as well as I know his. But if it isn't the Heartless, it's something else, something that none of us can truly prevent._

 _I always wake up._

 **{Disney Castle: May 29th 2013, 5:50am – Sora's point of view}**

Personally, I hate dreams where I never learn what happens; it's like a book with a single missing page that just happens to be at the end of it. It causes me to dwell upon it until I can no longer waste time with the details, and have to carry on with my daily life – daily life, yea, as if anything about my daily life is normal. I've grown accustomed to it, I've even grown to enjoy my life as a Keyblade Wielder, and now as a Master. Riku has even gotten used to people calling him Master Riku – I, on the other hand, still flinch when I hear the title. It's not because I'm not proud of it, because, believe me, I am proud to call myself a Keyblade Master – but I just can't get it to settle in my mind that people I know – and have known for quite some time – just decide to call me by my title. I feel like I'm not on a personal level with them, but it's a bit late to change that around, and I had to get my mind in order to face the day and it's chaos only because, and due to unfortunate circumstances: It was morning.

Morning in Disney Castle was not exactly identical to the one before it. More often than not, I never saw brooms because I could slip away using speed techniques or spells; however, on this particular morning, I wasn't as fortunate. I had turned a corner and instantly run into the brooms that had decided to stalk me since I arrived here back in February. However, there were some differences to the me from then and the me now – I had a hell of a reflect spell on my side. It was always quite fun, putting up the reflect spell and just watching the brooms bounce away as if they were nothing more than moths drawn to the bug zapper. But there was always that one broom that followed me and would lead a secondary attack when it had the chance: those typically ended up as ice statues for the remainder of the day.

"Sora!" I turned and saw Kairi standing there behind me as I realized I had slipped into the library where she was doing some reading that Master Yen Sid had assigned her.

"Morning, Kairi," I stated with a smile. She didn't buy the chipper attitude.

"The brooms again?" my shoulders slumped, and I sighed as I sat down at the table and instantly banged my head against it.

"They have it fucking out for me," I told her.

"Sora, just tell Master Yen Sid! He'll order them to stop." Kairi, bless her.

Kairi had been the person I had been the closest to growing up – followed closely by Riku – and I often was the only one out of our group of friends that could cheer her up. Lately, though, Kairi had been the one to do that for me. I had these moments where my mind went blank and I didn't remember things, and then before I knew it, I was waking up, running a fever because I had stressed my body past the point it was able to handle with anxiety. I sighed, blowing my bangs out of my eyes as I noticed a slim strand of white left over from our most harrowing adventure of recent times. The Dream Drop was hell on earth from what I remember, but things were slowly progressing; I was recovering, and so was everyone else.

"It doesn't matter...he can't really control them, either," I told her as she sighed.

"Okay...um...Sora? Are you okay? You know, about yesterday?" I looked into her aquamarine eyes – the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen – and glanced away from her to hide the fact that I was a little hurt by it.

"It just seems like we're having to say goodbye too soon," I mentioned.

"Well, our parents had to return at some point to the Destiny Islands, but you know, Master Yen Sid and King Mickey probably wouldn't be opposed to us visiting," she stated this to me, and I smiled a bit as I reached out and brushed her bangs from her eyes.

"Kairi, we're in the middle of a war...this is probably going to be the last time we'll see them until this is over – permanently." she looked down, evidently pained by the words I'd said. It hurt me as well, but I knew it was the truth, and I'd rather be given that than a false hope.

"I...know...but..." I brushed the back of my hand to her cheek.

"Your just as torn up about this as I am, huh?" she looked down again.

"I'm going to miss the Islands..." Kairi told me.

"You know, I was wondering something..." she looked back to me.

"What?" she asked. I smiled slightly.

"Destiny's Embrace, do you think it could be the Keyblade to the Destiny Islands?"

The look of shock upon her face was positively adorable. Kairi had some very cute reactions to new things, and it made me feel better on off days; however, there were also days where I just wanted to take her somewhere quiet and spend the entire day with just her, no one else and no interruptions. Maybe one of these days I'd have that wish, because at this point, no matter where I go – Traverse Town, included – Heartless or Nobodies appeared.

"I-I never thought of that! Where did you come up with that one?" she exclaimed this and I smiled.

"Well, the Keyblade to the Destiny Islands has never been found, and we still have an open Keyhole in that world...Kairi, I think that your Keyblade is our home world's Keyblade," I stated.

"That's really amazing..." I thought for a moment.

"You know...the Destiny Island's Keyhole is still unsealed...as is Traverse Town's Keyhole now that I think about it..." it was interesting to say the least, the prospect of there still being new Keyblades out there that no one had ever discovered yet.

"Could we find out?" I looked to her.

"Well, it'd be kind of hard to find a Keyblade that matches details to Traverse Town, but...Destiny's Embrace really does look like it belongs to the islands, don't you think?" she smiled.

"Yea, it does...so..." I took her hands.

"So, no matter where you go, you have something from our home world with you always – Destiny's Embrace, the Keyblade of the Destiny Islands," I said this and she smiled before giving me a kiss on the cheek as I laughed a bit.

"Come on, mister sleuth! We have to get to the dining room – everyone's expecting us still."

"Okay...I'm coming!" With that, the two of us left the library and headed off to meet up with everyone for the last day of our families being with us.

 **{Dining Room: 7:00am}**

It was an early start to the daily dosage of chaos. Donald and Goofy were talking while Jiminy set to work with a small meal, Queen Minnie was talking calmly with Lady Daisy - who had stopped speaking to scold Donald about his manners – Chip and Dale were packing up their meals for the day, King Mickey was talking calmly with Akira, Tadashi was chatting with Clarabelle, and Master Yen Sid and my mother were having a staring contest. It had been that way for several days now – weeks, if I thought about it – and neither one of them were exactly letting up. The problem was, I had no idea what had transpired between them, and some grand part of me had no desire to find out.

"Sora? Do you feel up to sparring today?" asked Riku. He was something else.

"Yea, sure, we'll do it after breakfast, okay?" he nodded.

Riku was one of those people who I was thankful to have as a friend. After all, how many people can say that their best friend – next to their girlfriend, naturally – would choose to surrender their humanity for them so that they could bring you back from death and restore your heart that had been shattered by the henchman that honestly gave some historical villains a run for their money? Not many, and none that I've ever heard of. However, it wasn't just Riku I was thankful to have by my side in this battle; Kairi was my saving light and she made my heart soar with joy that I'd never felt before; Donald, the hot-tempered Royal Court Magician who's had my back alongside Goofy, the Captain of the Royal Knights, from the beginning of my stranger-than-fiction life.

Queen Minnie, I found myself looking to her as a favorite aunt, King Mickey as a beloved uncle, Chip and Dale as the rambunctious cousins who always got into something but tried to help, and lastly, Master Yen Sid was the sagely grandfather figure that, despite a previous instance that I refuse to mention, I would put my full trust in. Then, there was the extended family – Squall, Cloud, Tifa, Cid, Yuffie, Yuna, Noctis, Vincent, Rikku, Paine, and so many others. With my biological mother, my adopted older brother Riku, Tadashi as a moderate father figure, Akira as my wise second aunt, and Kairi as my girlfriend – we were one dysfunctional but amazing bunch of people that made up a rather unique family.

"You know we're leaving tomorrow, right?" asked Akira. I never really knew what to think about knowing that, and seeing them go without knowing when or if we'd ever see them again.

"We know, and don't worry – we'll do a quick sparring session, and then spend time with you guys, okay?" my mother chimed in.

"I want the three of you to take a break – remember what happened not even three days ago?" I had almost forgot about it. I had been sparring with Riku and unfortunately caused a wound to reopen. My mother had gone ballistic, and it was possibly one of the worst pains I'd experienced in quite some time. However, the reason I had forgotten was because I had been able to use a potion and cure-spell on the wound which soon sealed back up, good as new. But, she did have a point.

"Okay, we'll skip sparring today," I said as I messed with the food on my plate.

"Sora? Are you not hungry?" I glanced up to my mom.

"Not really, I guess it's just because I've not been sleeping as much lately..." it was a half-minded thought, but it was enough to send her and Akira into a fit.

"You should tell us if you aren't sleeping! It'll take longer for you to get back to full health!" she stated. I sighed, and nodded my head.

"I'll take a sleeping potion to make sure I sleep tonight, okay?" my mother shook her head, but seemed to have nothing to say.

"Fine, but no sparring right now! You need to finish healing up, and spend your last day with us, otherwise, you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it," my mother, ever the voice of reason, looked to Akira.

"Be nice, Akira," she scolded.

"You know you would have said the same thing!" I laughed with the others.

"Now, finish up – we have things to do today!" stated Kairi as she took a bite of her apple, and I forced myself to eat a few bites before I couldn't take anymore.

I could always eat something later when I got hungry.

If I didn't get chased out of the kitchen by the brooms again, that is.

 **{Castle Gardens: 9:45am}**

My mom and I had gone for a walk in the gardens – they were sprawling, enormous, and beautiful places full of ponds, weeping cherry-trees, grassy knolls, roses bushes that had climbed up the stone walls, and remarkable flowers and plants of many kinds. I had found myself in here a time or two if I wasn't down at the beach watching the waves roll in, but today, I was intent on focusing on spending some time with my mom before we said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways for what all I could know, might be the last time.

"The gardens are so beautiful," she said as we walked down a cobblestone path.

"Yea, it's a really good place to go out and read when I want to get away from all the chaos of the castle..." I kept walking, and she looked me over out of the corner of her eyes.

"Sora, are you feeling well?" I paused.

"I'm okay, just really tired is all..." she wasn't convinced.

"No, you aren't okay. Sora, you look sick again...when was the last time you've eaten?" I rolled my eyes.

"This morning at breakfast..." I received a pointed look.

"You took _five bites_...now, listen. I don't want you ruining your health because you think you don't need to sleep or eat like normal people do," she told me in a very clinical manner. This is what having a parental figure in the medical field will get you: a long, medical jargon lecture on how you must be responsible with your habits. By this point in my life, I've heard it about nine times, so I've started to elect to ignore it.

"I know, Mom...I'm just..." I sighed.

"You're anxious, aren't you?" I glanced to her.

"I don't know if you would call it that. Something inside me knots up every time I think about the things I have to do...I'm scared of letting someone down, or hurting someone I love...I did some really horrible things in the Dream Drop, Mom...I don't think I could bear it if I lost control or killed someone I love..." the moment the words left me, I felt her arms around me.

"Your stronger than that. Your a light of hope, a brave shining light that can inspire people just because they've encountered you." she was like that, knowing just what to say and when to say it – I suppose that's where I got that from, because I most certainly didn't favor her.

"Hey...what was Dad like?" it was a random question, but she smiled.

"Like you...you're a lot like your father, Sora – he was a wonderful man, truly amazing, and kind, he knew just what to do and say when people turned to him. That's something I see in you every time I watch you, especially now."

I hugged my mother back, tightly and took a moment to remember the way her embraces felt like, what her scent was like, and how safe I felt. This would be the last time in a long, long time that I would ever so much as see her, I knew it. I felt it in the earth, I sensed it in the water, and I smelled it in the air around me – things were going to change.

"If the three of you stick together...you can do anything."

"Everything's going to be okay," I said to her.

The remainder of my time around my mother, I talked to her about how Master Yen Sid was going to be telling us our full responsibilities as Keyblade Masters soon. There was joy in her eyes and excitement when she asked me what I wanted to do once I got out there and had students of my own. The idea of me teaching someone was unnerving because I had never been given formal training with a Keyblade – I was completely self-taught. How was I supposed to teach other people how to battle it out with the Heartless and Nobodies – plus whatever else was out there – when I had never been given that chance? It was the one thing that terrified me to no end, because I knew that if I slipped up just once, if I said or did something wrong and those people didn't learn the right way – _I could cost them their lives._

As usual, my mother supported me and told me what I think I might have known all along: I could teach them with what I was taught with, and that was experience. It got the gears turning in my head, and I was thrilled as my mind came up with lessons that could be applied, and my mother joined me as we discussed some of the possibilities, and we continued to walk in the garden until it was time for lunch, and we prepared for what was to come: the end of the grace period.

 **{Disney Castle Shore-side: 7:00pm}**

It was sunset now, the day had flown by – just as anything good always does – and I was standing at the shoreline watching the waves role in as the setting sun turned the water shades of purple, orange, yellow ,and red. It was just a rather peaceful early evening, but it made me feel hollow because I knew this wasn't how I would view things tomorrow. I would be back to my normal, hectic life and the insanity that being a Keyblade Wielder brought on. However, I was looking forward to it because that was who I was. I enjoyed being who I was now, and I had no qualms about being thrown into the middle of battle, getting a few cuts and bruises, learning new things, gaining new allies, and putting a chink of Xehanort's armor: that was the life that had become hardwired into me now, and I was perfectly fine with it.

"Sora, there you are!" I turned, as I had this morning, and saw Kairi walking up to me, barefoot and wearing a simple pair of denim shorts and a pink tank-top. I smiled to her and held out my hand as she came closer, and took it before I pulled her close to me.

"Hello, Princess," I teased a bit, and she frowned.

"Funny, Master." I gave her a quick kiss, and she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"So, did you have a good day with your dad?" I asked.

"Yea...I'm going to miss him..." the girl in my arms pressed her head against my chest, and I sighed, feeling a bit tired.

"We'll be okay, we always are..." her bright, aquamarine eyes looked directly to me.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked me.

I glanced down from her. Since returning to Disney Castle from the brief stint of recovery on the Destiny Islands, I had been experiencing a few things that set me on edge. The lack of appetite worried everyone who noticed – which was most of our group – the fact that I only had a decent night's sleep every four or so days was another concern, the things that made me feel sick if I thought about them for a certain period of time, the fear of things that were irrational, and worst of all – the nightmares. I wasn't a person who had nightmares, but recently, I had been getting them more and more. However, these weren't just normal nightmares, but horrible, terrifyingly real, painful, heart-pounding, morbid ones that sent me jolting from my sleep only to find that I was being shaken awake by Kairi, my mom, and several times even Riku. The idea scared me, and I did wonder at one point what was wrong, but I've known for some time now that it was post-traumatic stress disorder from whatever had happened to me.

"Sora?" I glanced to the girl, and sighed as I wrapped my arms around her, and held her close.

"I'll be fine...don't worry about me, okay?" I said as she frowned, and looked to at the sun as it started to disappear on the horizon.

"Okay...just promise me you won't suffer through things because you don't want to worry us, okay?" I only gave her a smile before nodding.

"Alright, I promise."

But despite that promise, I couldn't shake the distinct feeling that we had a long adventure coming.

 **{Disney Castle: May 30th 2013 8:00am - Narrative}**

The day for the parents to leave had finally come, and Himitsu was coming wake up Sora and had felt a bit cold inside as she walked down the hallway and towards where his room was located. Tadashi was packing and so was Akira, while she had packed the night before and wanted to spend just a few minutes alone with her son before they left. Riku and Kairi were still fast asleep; however, the silence around the castle made her feel small and lonely as she finally stopped in front of his door, and knocked faintly. Himitsu frowned as she looked around and knocked once more before she moved the knob a bit to find the door was unlocked. Stepping in quietly so not to disturb him, Himitsu looked around, and then saw Sora lying slightly curled up on the bed sound asleep, and she smiled.

There were reasons for her to smile as she watched him. Sora seemed to have finally fallen asleep without much of a fit and was resting soundly; however, his peaceful state wasn't what had her smiling. It was the fact that, laid open at his side, was something she wasn't expecting – a book. It made her want to laugh, it was amazing to see that, despite all his changes in his habits, personality, and lifestyle, he still was a bookworm. Sora was an avid reader and always had been because he could lose himself in a book and enjoy an adventure where he didn't have to fight his way through Heartless, risk everything for the sake of the worlds – he just had to enjoy the twists and turns, and laugh with the parts he found comical, or cry if he found the situation sorrowful. Sora didn't have to be the hero, he got to be the observer – something he never experienced in real life anymore. Himitsu walked over to him and reached out for the book before she placed a bookmark into it that had been left out and shut it as she looked at the title.

 _Walk out of the World_

 _by_

 _Ruth Nichols_

Himitsu nearly dropped the book as memories rushed through her mind. This book was the exact same book that she had scolded Sora for reading early that morning over eating when he was running behind. It had been the exact same book that she had grabbed in worry that it would be lost, despite all the things she could have taken with her into hiding – she grabbed the last book that Sora had been reading before he disappeared. It brought back the days that followed as she held onto it and even read it herself, until finally, they were able to return home, and she put it on his desk and never touched it again.

The year that followed them after Kairi and Riku had been returned to them were cold days that scared her and made her stand in the middle of his room for hours on end, looking at everything that she dared not touch until he returned home. Then, on the night Sora returned, she had found him skimming through that very same book, scanning the pages, and finding his place that was kept by a bookmark Himitsu dared not remove.

Sora had commented that she didn't have to keep his place because he was going to have to re-read it now, but she had just laughed and stated she'd done it because she wasn't sure when he'd be home. Now, she knew, though – he was home, at the Disney Castle, where he was safest, and surrounded by trustworthy comrades.

"Mom?" Himitsu looked to Sora, who was sitting up, looking at her in questioning.

"Sorry, I just wanted to let you know that everyone's packing up," she said as she sat the book down on the nightstand.

"Oh...alright, I'll be down in a minute..." Himitsu looked to him.

"Okay, see you soon..." she turned to leave and the boy grabbed her hand, causing her to turn as he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Thank you for being here. I don't know what I would have done without all of you..." the sincerity didn't surprise her, but the way he said it did.

It sounded as if he wouldn't have survived without them.

"Sora, you don't have to thank me...I'm your mother, I'm supposed to love you and care for you. I'll always be here for you," she assured.

"No, you can't be here for me always, but the fact that you're here now, that's what counts. You're important to me, like everyone else I've encountered...I love you, and I just want to thank you because you've got a special place in my heart, just like everyone that I've met...so even if you aren't here for me, you'll be with me," he muttered as he held onto her for a moment.

"Why is that?" the boy looked to her as he stepped back with a smile.

"Because you'll be in my heart, and I'll always be in yours. You'll be with me forever. And all I have to do is look over my shoulder, and you'll be right there."

All Himitsu could do was smile.

"Thank you, and you know I will be."

Himitsu left for him to get ready before they left, and as she walked down the hallway, she felt tears well up in her eyes to the point that she couldn't walk them away. Sora's words brought back a painful memory, and no matter what she did, the images, the words wouldn't leave her and rang in her ears like a bell's toll would, until she was down the staircase and heading towards the dining room, where they were joining everyone for their last meal at the Castle. However, she was too early and found only Master Yen Sid and King Mickey present while she wiped her eyes, excused herself, and took a seat. The two of them said nothing for a moment and then slowly came to her, and the aged Keyblade Grand Master placed a hand upon her shoulder as she sniffed a bit and tried not to cry in front of either of them. However, she found herself unable to help it as she sat there, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried and failed to blink them away.

The words said, they tore holes in her and ripped through her heart, and it wasn't because the words were horrible or insincere, it was because it reminded her how many years ago that moment was, the moment when those words had come from another she cared for and had lost because of circumstances she couldn't prevent or comprehend. The words carried weight, life, and hope, but they bore her nothing but misery, regret, and fear as she wiped her eyes again and tried to overcome the tight knot in her stomach.

"Himitsu? Is everything okay?" asked King Mickey.

"..." she said nothing.

"Please, tell us what has upset you so much," Master Yen Sid stated as he watched the woman.

"He said the same words as him...thirteen years to the day."

 **{Departure: 10:00am}**

Everyone was saying their goodbyes, the King and Queen, Chip and Dale, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Clarabelle, and Master Yen Sid as their three Keyblade Wielders said their last farewells to their parents. It was as Himitsu received a hug from Sora and Kairi with a promise to behave and not get themselves into any trouble that she smiled and got aboard the Gummi Ship as Donald and Goofy boarded it as well and got it started up. The parents buckled up, and the ship took off with a final wave from the three Keyblade Wielders and the others of the castle as they headed into the Other Sky.

It was as they were flying that Himitsu went to get a journal from her pocket – it was a rather small, leather-bound thing with faded parchment for writing – and found something in there, other than just the journal: it was a letter. Himitsu instantly recognized Sora's hand writing and slowly smiled as she opened the letter and looked it over.

 _Mom,_

 _Thank you for everything, I just wanted to tell you how thankful I am to have you and the others on the Island, and cheering us on, even if we can't see you. I know a lot of things have happened, and even more is just around the bend; however, there's nothing to be afraid of. Because whatever lies behind this morning is a little later on, and we can embrace what's before us now, and knowing that lets me hold onto my light and walk down this path that I know won't be easy, and while there are many dangers and warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all. Because I know, no matter what, everyone I hold in my heart will be there standing with me at the end. So, thank you for everything, and wish us the best._

 _Sora._

"Thank you, too...Hikari..."

 **{...}**

 _Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me..._

 **{...}**

Author's Note: That's the end of Kingdom Hearts: Recollection. It's been amazing to create a story that tells everyone about Sora, Riku, and Kairi as they recover from the events of the Dream Drop, and prepare to take new steps in their lives. Tell me what you guys think, and thank you for all the reviews, and views!

Did you catch all the hints? Did you realize some new things about the truth behind the series? Tell me if you did in a PM so not to spoil to much for the other readers.

Song Used:

 **Shatter Me by Lindsy Sterling (feat. Lzzy Hale)**

See you in the next story!


	18. Author's Note

Dear Readers,

Thank you for reading and reviewing _**Kingdom Hearts: Recollection**_. It has been wonderful to see what you think of the time Sora, Riku, and Kairi spent with their friends, and family as they recovered from the events of _**Kingdom Hearts: Darker Dream Distance**_. However, now we have come to the next path in this journey, and it will bring on new characters, and situations. Sora, Riku, Kairi, and the others will be in for quite the adventure. We have finally caught up with _**Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Dreams**_ and now we only lack two pre-stories, one of which is in progress.

Here, is a list of all stories that will be availble soon that are marked with an asterisk, and available stories are unmarked:

Kingdom Hearts: Genesis

Kingdom Hearts: Re-Verse*

Kingdom Hearts: Cypher

Kingdom Hearts: Darker Dream Distance

Kingdom Hearts: Recollection

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Dreams

Kingdom Hearts: Revive

Kingdom Hearts: Trance Step*

Kingdom Hearts: Off The Grid

Kingdom Hearts: The Lost Two – Part I

If you haven't begun reading Genesis, I recommend you do before things get further down the line. Re-Verse will be available when _Epliouge: Path to the Light_ is released as the last chapter of Genesis, and is followed by the trivia page, and author's note.

I hope you have all enjoyed this story, and the series as a whole because there is much more to come. I'll hear from all of you real soon!

Special Thanks To:

Alphawolf96

Laughing Princess88

Writer From The Heart

Shinigami of the Elder Gods

and all those who viewed, but did not review

Thank you.

 _Sincerely,_

 _ShadowDragon94_


	19. Epilogue – Kairi's Heartfelt Words

Epilogue – Kairi's Words

 **{June 7th 2013: Disney Castle}**

There were many days where I couldn't bear the stone walls of the castle that I now called home and I even found the faces of our friends a bit hard to look at. I'm sure many would be surprised that a Princess of Heart could despise anything, but I have my moments where I hate the life we have now. It wasn't because of the fact that so much had changed – we had asked for that – nor was it the fact that we were helping so many people, it wasn't even the insane sleep and training schedule or the fact that typically we had to eat certain things to keep our energy up and would end up on missions that would last for unknown periods of time. None of that mattered to me, but what did was the things that happened to us and those we cared for.

The one incident that came to my mind was the Dream Drop that we were finally recovering from. It was an ordeal that still sent chills down my spine, made my heart race and my stomach turn in a manner that made me feel as if I was going to be violently ill. The battle was not the worst part of it, but the things I had witnessed. All our friends wounded, unable to hardly move as they laid strewn across the ground in various states of injury. Squall had been hurt, Tifa, Cloud, Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, Oswald, Master Yen Sid, Yui, Jack – they had put their lives on the line for the sake of saving those they cared for, and had sworn to help. However, the sight that tormented my sleep many nights was the sight of Riku hurt, and even worse, the sight of Sora lying lifeless in his arms.

No matter how many times I tried to ignore that it happened, it did, and I couldn't deny that fact. Sora, the same brightly smiling boy with a shy demeanor that had become battle hardened, a warrior, brave, true, strong, and open about many things – had been broken and killed by the scum of the worlds known as Organization Thirteen. I couldn't bear the thought of what could have happened to him if we hadn't gotten there when we did. Sora had come back, he'd fought alongside us and we'd won, but Riku had to give up his humanity – becoming Sora's Chief Dream Eater – and vow to protect him, and as for myself, I finally learned something about fighting in the mix of darkness and light: every battle took something from each person.

For Squall, Tifa, and Cloud, it had taken a toll of stress as they realized they were able to be outmatched by the Organization, and it was a frightening reality, and I could see it shook them to a degree. For Yui and Jack, they discovered how great of a threat the Darkness, Organization Thirteen, and Xehanort truly was – Donald and Goofy realized that they couldn't let their guards down. Master Yen Sid, Oswald, and King Mickey learned that they couldn't leave things to chance. And as for myself, Sora, and Riku? We learned that pain was part of this life, and loss, grief, and anger were things we couldn't escape, scars we couldn't hide, and pasts we couldn't always overcome.

That was why I had begun to spend as much time with Sora and Riku, but recently, I felt as if I needed alone time with the boy I had come to love, and now was in a relationship with. Sora seemed well off, but I knew better – he wasn't as well as he pretended to be. That was the reason I had kept a book from my time in town with my dad secret from him until I felt it was a good time to give it to him. The book wasn't anything grand, just a simple, leather-bound book on Norse Mythology that I thought he'd enjoy – who knew, maybe a world would have some backing on the myth and lore of the culture – plus, Sora always seemed fascinated by other cultures for reasons many didn't understand. I sighed as I knocked on his door and heard a faint huff as he opened the door.

"Morning, Sora," I said to him, and he gave me a tired smile.

"Good morning, Kairi." He let me in and gave me a kiss on the cheek as he shut the door.

"Did you sleep well?" All I received was a faint yawn, covered by his hand, and a stretch that reminded me of a cat.

"I guess...what's that you've got?"

Sky-blue eyes looked me over and then at the book in my hands. I always adored the way his eyes would light up at the prospect of learning something new – he had a child-like wonder and curiosity to him that showed when he was nervous or highly interested in something. I smiled and held it out to him, and he slowly took it before looking at the cover in questioning while I watched him. Sora was an avid reader, he constantly read stories and books that told him information, and he soaked it in like a sponge and retained it for later use. Because of his shy, carefree, and quiet nature, some people believed he wasn't that intelligent – but if his grades had been anything to go by, he fooled people a little too well – he sat down next to me and flipped the cover over and looked at it momentarily.

"It's got some of the Poetic Edda in it," I said.

"Thanks, Kairi; it's probably going to come in handy at some point..." he kissed my cheek again and stood before placing it into an empty space on the bookshelf next to his desk.

"Sora? Are you okay?" I had to ask, he didn't look right.

His skin was pale, dark circles under his eyes, which had lost some of their luster and warmth, he looked thinner than normal, and his body moved as if he was in pain constantly. He paused and glanced down momentarily before slowly nodding his head as if to tell me he was fine, but I didn't buy the ruse and stood.

"I'll be fine, I just need a little bit more time to heal." it was a lie – flawless and believable, if it wasn't for the fact that I knew if Sora was lying.

"No, you're not. Sora, tell me what's wrong," I pleaded gently as he turned to face me.

"Kairi, I'm okay – promise. I just need to..."

"No; _I_ _hear you at night_ , you keep having night terrors, but you hide them because it scares us and you don't want us to worry..." he flinched.

"You don't know how hard it is to talk about this..." he tried to redirect the conversation, and I frowned.

"Then talk to me, you know you can trust me," I stated.

"I know...but these are... _my own personal demons_ , and I have to face them _alone_." I moved forward and grasped the front of his shirt in my hands.

"Sora! _You dumbass!_ "

I pulled him forward and kissed him. He didn't panic, he merely moved closer, wrapping an arm around my waist and tugging at the back of my hair to deepen it. The action wasn't uncommon, but lately I had noticed Sora was a bit more aggressive than he normally would be towards me. The first time he did this, I thought nothing of it, except that maybe we were getting a little carried away, and then, I had to consider this time – it was rougher, the grip around my waist tighter, the fingers in my hair knotting in a much more tense grasp, and his lips felt gentle, yet bruising. I broke away for air and then looked to him as he looked down, bangs hiding his eyes – the same beautiful sky-blue eyes I had known for so many years – before he glanced in my direction and leaned forward, gently placing a kiss to my lips as he cupped my cheek – it was an apology, but I knew there was no need for it.

"Sora, don't apologize to me..." he laughed a bit as he placed a series of kisses to my lips as he wrapped his arms around my waist and hoisted me up before I was thrown on the bed.

Despite his smaller stature when compared to other males, Sora was strong and powerful. His slighter form made him faster, much more sturdy, and twice as dangerous when it came to his attacks. However, the fact that I was now pinned beneath him, with his face rested right beside my own had my heart racing, and he knew that. Sighing just a bit, Sora looked down to me before rolling to the side to lay beside me as he closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths.

"Sora?"

"I don't want to talk about the Dream Drop...I know this is from it..." he placed a hand to his chest, eyes barely open as he seemed to be in deep thought.

"Sora, look at me," I said and he glanced in my direction.

"Kairi?" I reached forward and brushed his bangs from his eyes, running my fingers through his hair.

"You're not alone, and I'm there with you all the way..." he smiled just a bit and sighed as he closed his eyes.

"I'm so tired...I feel like I'm completely hollow inside..." I looked to him and leaned forward until I was braced over him.

"Do you remember the promise I made with you two years ago?" sky-blue eyes looked to me.

"Why wouldn't I? I promised to keep your heart in mine, and you could keep mine in yours," he stated calmly while I smiled.

"Exactly, so think of all the people who you have in your heart – the ones who are there because you love them, and the ones who are there because you're protecting them. Sora, you're their guardian, the person they chose because they knew you were the right one for the job – so don't give up, because I'll be there, okay? And so will Riku and everyone else." I received one of his genuine smiles that, despite looking exhausted, was still warm and inviting.

"Thank you, Kairi..." I leaned against him and placed a gentle kiss to his lips before he returned it, and while I did feel a small bite being placed to my bottom lip, I just laughed and kissed him back with as much enthusiasm before we broke apart, curled together in the rays of the afternoon sun and slowly dozed off.

My world is made up of many facets, many different worlds, lives, and trials, but if I can just have Sora's arms around me, if I know he'll be there no matter what, right by my side, then everything – regardless of whether it was just an average day or the closure of a battle in a world – if we were together, then everything, in time, _would be okay_.


End file.
